


void of thought

by phanstarlight



Series: home. [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Danganronpa Another 2 ~The Moon of Hope and Sun of Despair~
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, High School AU, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Iroha is babie, Mikado needs the biggest hug, Mostly from Hajime's POV, Nikkei needs a hug, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, other characters not tagged
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2020-04-23 14:44:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 41,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19153144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phanstarlight/pseuds/phanstarlight
Summary: "hello? is this the right room…” the ultimate boxer pushed open the door, only to find he wasn’t the only person there. in fact...he quickly realised he was the last one to arrive.“oh, hajime?!” upbeat, the ultimate actress got up from her seat and pulled him further in, “welcome to fight club! they chose you as a student body member too?”➵ the ultimate boxer, actress, painter, journalist and magician of class 79 are all forced to make up their class' student body. the five of them have little in common and not much say in the matter, but when sudden events force them to get closer and work together, the school's decision seems almost like fate.[ON HIATUS FOR NOW]





	1. part 1.

**Author's Note:**

> me: i want the void kids to be happy and like normal school kids :)  
> also me: this is gonna take a really dark turn :-)
> 
> this uses western name order (e.g. iroha nijiue instead of nijiue iroha) and other characters from both sdra2 and other fangames will appear.

_”every class needs its own student body, you see. i’ve discussed it with your teacher and i have every reason you believe that you would be perfect for the group. you don’t need to do much, just organise certain events and get on well with your other student body members-”_

 

that was how it all started.

 

the classroom allocated for the student body members was practically abandoned in some far off corner of their building. their class wasn’t the most well-behaved, sure, but if this was all they were getting...what did jin kirigiri expect?

 

“hello? is this the right room…” the ultimate boxer pushed open the door, only to find he wasn’t the only person there. in fact...he quickly realised he was the last one to arrive.

 

“oh, hajime?!” upbeat, the ultimate actress got up from her seat and pulled him further in, “welcome to fight club! they chose you as a student body member too?”

 

“yeah...i don’t know why.”

 

emma laughed, nodding in agreement. the ultimate actress was bright and optimistic as ever, dragging him to the circle of chairs already laid out for the five of them. he thought about protesting against emma’s rough pulling but gave up, knowing the girl wouldn’t have listened anyway.

 

awkward glances were shared between a few of them. they'd all been in the same class for a few months now and knew each other relatively well, but this was such a weird situation. at the very least, there was a shared thankfulness in that introductions weren't needed.

 

the five selected student body members were all here, it seemed.

 

hajime makunouchi, ultimate boxer, was likely the most level-headed of the five. he refused to call himself a fitness junky, but the blonde was known for frequenting the gym pretty much everyday alongside the ultimate firefighter. whilst he borderline defied the school dress code with his shades, hajime was far from an unruly or unkind person. maybe even outside of the classmates in this room, he was one of the most resilient in their class overall.

 

emma magorobi, ultimate actress, sat beside the boxer. long blonde hair and a personality so bold and blissful, she was usually the center of people’s attention. there was a lot of jealousy aimed towards her from other students due to her ultimate talent and her level of popularity, but she never outwardly let it bother her. in reality, emma cited her reason for existence as “bearer of /quality/ puns” and just wanted the people around her to laugh with her. she could be annoying at times, but her comments always came from a place of kindness.

 

to emma’s right sat ultimate painter iroha nijiue. shortest in their class, nobody realised at first glance that she was in fact a high school student; their classmates took the piss at her occasionally for it. regardless, she still lived everyday positive and proud. she could be rather self-centred and immature at times, but was still easy enough to get on with. no idea how jin kirigiri and their teacher made the collective decision for her to be a member of the student body, considering the amount of times she had to be shook awake in class...but he digressed.

 

sat opposite hajime was ultimate journalist nikkei yomiuri, and notorious asshole. he wasn’t as much rude as he was rather misunderstood in his actions (in hajime’s eyes, anyway), but he definitely had some sort of superiority complex. even now, he was sat with his arms folded, clearly not too chuffed about being here. one on one, nikkei was pretty nice to be around and his “scoops” were interesting to hear about. around other people...debatable. his daily arguments with yoruko and/or hibiki in the class were amusing though, they had to admit.

 

lastly, ultimate magician mikado sannoji sat beside nikkei. mikado was...a weird one, for lack of better word. the blonde practically fought for the rights to wear his magician’s cape with the uniform, with school relenting after all of those colourful fliers he put around the building. as an individual...nobody really knew what to think about him. mikado could be equally as much of an asshole as nikkei, though most of it was directed at either iroha, nikkei or syobai. as much of a jerk he could be though, most of the shit that came out of mikado’s mouth wasn’t too malicious. picking him as a student body member though...what was jin kirigiri on?

 

“so!” emma began, hands clasped together, “we all got chosen to be our class’ student body! isn’t that cool?”

 

nikkei yawned, mumbling out a stiff “not really.”

 

“i guess so,” iroha nodded, “i wonder why they picked us though.”

 

looking around the circle, it was apparent none of their talents really aligned at all. a boxer, an actress, a painter, a journalist and a magician - there was virtually nothing connecting them at all.

 

“so...what do we do now?” hajime asked, furrowed eyebrows hidden by his sunglasses, “they didn’t really tell us what we’re s’pposed to do here.”

 

there was a brief silence between the five of them, broken promptly by the sound of emma’s preppy voice.

 

“we should decide on a leader!” she stood up confidently as she announced it, eliciting a flinch from mikado and a small shriek from iroha.

 

“a leader?” leaning his chin on his hands, a ghost of a smile made its way onto mikado’s face. without much further comments, emma made her way to the back of the classroom and began fiddling around with the cupboards. hajime shot her a look of confusion whilst nikkei sighed inwardly.

 

moments later, the ultimate actress returned to her seat with a tupperware box in both hands. bright smile still on her face, she turned directly towards nikkei.

 

“nikkei, can i borrow some paper?”

 

the ultimate journalist sighed for the nth time in that hour, but pulled out a page from his notepad nonetheless. emma accepted it and immediately began to rip it into five somewhat equal sections; removing a pen from her blazer pocket, she took a few seconds to scribble words onto the paper.

 

“tada!” holding out her hands, the other four members realised she’d written out their names onto the paper pieces. hajime quirked his brows in confusion, not entirely understanding where this was leading to.

 

“oh, i see now!” the ultimate painter hummed, moving to the edge of her seat, “are you picking out of the box?”

 

emma nodded proudly, giving iroha a thumbs up in the process, “precisely! i doubt we’ll actually be able to agree on a leader so this is as fair as it can get. let me just…” folding up the paper as neatly as she could, the actress then put the five pieces in the box. the blonde looked so self-assured in her plan and, to be fair, it wasn’t a bad idea. hajime and iroha could already see possible argument arising with nikkei if they’d tried to pick normally.

 

mikado finally spoke up, “that works, emma chan.” a ghost of a smile appeared on his features, though it was extinguished almost immediately. at least they knew he had no issue with it. nikkei also gave a non-committal shrug in emma’s direction, not having anything to say about the choice.

 

“right then, it’s settled!” emma shook around the box a few times until she was content, before passing it to the ultimate boxer, “hajime, i’m giving you rights to pick. do it _wisely._ ”

 

“w-wait, _me?!_ ” hajime stared down at the tupperware box in his lap, looking up at emma incredulously, “why?”

 

iroha clapped her hands, “you’re the most responsible one here! we trust your divine judgement.”

 

“plus, if you pick badly, you’ll be responsible for our downfall.” nikkei chimed in, chuckling to himself.

 

the boxer sighed; he didn’t exactly have any say in the matter, did he? even mikado was staring at him expectantly now. he supposed it was a compliment that emma decided on him anyway.

 

eyes closed and hand in the box, he picked out a piece of paper.

 

this was it. this piece of paper would determine /everything/ for them.

 

“our student body leader is…!”

 

he opened it up.

 

_“...mikado.”_

 

the reaction was instant.

 

there was a loud “what!?” from iroha’s direction, the ultimate painter staring at the piece of paper in horror and shock. nikkei buried his head in his hands and...was he screaming into his hands? hajime almost felt bad. emma still seemed as proud as ever regardless of the outcome, eyes twinkling in the direction of the ultimate magician. mikado himself was somewhat stunned for a moment, though the look on his face could only be described as a shit-eating grin now.

 

“me as leader?” the magician clasped his hands together, “fate really _does_  have a way.”

 

“h-how?!” iroha gaped, still not quite believing what had just happened.

 

“a magician _never_  reveals his tricks, iroha chan.” mikado brought a finger to his lips, inciting a small gasp from the brunette painter. she really seemed to believe magic was involved in this...only iroha, they supposed.

 

hajime put down the box and began to address the entire group, “that settles it dudes, mikado is our leader.” a part of him could sense the judgemental gazes from nikkei (he’d lifted his head now, though he wished he hadn’t) but he blocked it out in favour of facing emma again - she still managed to look scarily proud of herself, even now.

 

the ultimate actress suddenly stood up from her seat again, resulting in the loud scraping of her chair and a stunned “eek!” from iroha’s end again. she took a step towards an equally confused and curious mikado, extending her hand out to him courteously.

 

“it’s nice to have you on board, leader!” mikado chuckled inwardly, accepting the offer to shake her hand, “show the school that this is where the _magic_  happens.” of course she just couldn’t let this go without a pun, could she? iroha and hajime shared a look, whilst nikkei rolled his eyes.

 

“hey, i saw that!” emma glared back at nikkei, “play nice nikkei.”

 

the journalist sighed, running a hand through his hair, “just don’t fuck this up for the rest of us.” the ebony haired boy obviously wasn't happy with any of this, but he couldn't be bothered to argue with emma now.

 

"w-we don't even know what _this_  is yet." tugging on the strands of hair tied by her bow, iroha gave their new leader a stressed smile, "i think you'll do well though!" the brunette appeared to calm down somewhat after getting that out.

 

emma turned around and shot hajime an expectant look, with the realisation that he was probably supposed to add on something to the list of comments. stiffening up awkwardly, hajime folded his arms and gave the blonde magician a hopeful smile.

 

"it's nice to have you on board leader," a small chuckle, "we'll be counting on you, yeah?"

 

mikado's expression was dubiously content still. he had no objection to leadership or any other snide remarks other than a mischievous "i'll do my best…" the comment with the smirk didn't feel completely truthful, but emma seemed pleased enough with it. the actress began chatting away about what the school could possibly force them into doing, with everyone (including nikkei after some ""gentle persuasion"") getting involved and throwing in theories.

 

_ring, ring, ring!_

 

"oh, meeting's over already?" the ultimate boxer peered up at the clock, thankfully still visible under his shades, "didn't realise things were goin' so smoothly."

 

emma tutted at him, throwing a playful smile hajime's way, "of course it is, we're a _team_  now. we're the student body that can't be _beat!_ "

 

"when do the puns end, for fucks sake!" hajime groaned, trying his hardest to ignore iroha and nikkei's sniggers. he'd been friends with emma the moment he walked into this school but let it be said, he was _never_  going to accept her puns.

 

the sound of the classroom door opening suddenly brought them out of their joking. without the four of them realising it, mikado had already picked up his bag and was heading out.

 

"see you tomorrow, _comrades._ " he grinned, leaving without another word.

 

"...did he just channel his inner yuri? what _was_  that?" nikkei sighed, picking up his own bag and moving his chair back, "i'm going too then. cya." the journalist had definitely brightened up somewhat (as much as nikkei yomiuri could, to be honest) and had even given the trio a light-hearted wave as he left.

 

hajime, iroha and emma worked together to put the classroom back to how it was before, talking absentmindedly in the process. their personalities were a big contrast to each other's but they

got on much better than expected - thank goodness jin kirigiri had chosen friendly enough people for their student body.

 

"right, let's leave gang!" the ultimate actress gleamed, wrapping her arms around the duo. iroha thankfully didn't yelp this time and kept a firm hold on her sketchbook. hajime kept his smile, although a part of him remained horrified at the fact emma was practically his height...poor iroha and her 4'8 self. the trio continued their previous conversation as they left the classroom, unaware of what was to await them and the other two student body members in the upcoming months.


	2. part 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it continues! :)

[ _emma magorobi has invited you to join "kibōgamine student body" - **ACCEPT?**_ ]

[ **YES** ]                [NO]

 

↓↓↓

 

kibōgamine student body (5) - 5:11pm.

 **emma** : hi! you're all here  
**emma** : thank god i really thought one of y'all would decline

 **hajime** : Of course we wouldn't :)

 **nikkei** : we did _give_  you our numbers  
**nikkei** : itd be stupid to decline

 **emma** : true  
**emma** : welcome then!

 **mikado** : hello :)

 **nikkei** : god  
**nikkei** : you even _text_  like a murderer

 **mikado** : :(

 **iroha** : hey gamers  
**iroha** : as sakurai once said  
**iroha** : "everyone is here"

 **hajime** : Great!  
**hajime** : Have the school told us what we actually need to do yet?

 **mikado** : they have :)

 **nikkei** :  
**nikkei** : ...go on

 **iroha** : ominous silence

 **mikado** : there's a school meeting next week  
**mikado** : they want to know what the school can change  
**mikado** : so we must ask our classmates :)

 **emma** : geez  
**emma** : i already know hibiki's got a whole load of opinions on that

 **hajime** : We just need to ask them?

 **mikado** : yes :)  
**mikado** : and make a presentation about it

 **iroha** : a  
**iroha** : we gotta

 **nikkei** : present

 **hajime** : To whom

 **mikado** : the rest of the student body?  
**mikado** : what a silly question, hajime chan

 **iroha** : lmao get f*cked

 **hajime** : Literally have done absolutely nothing wrong you ever Iroha but alright

 **emma** : wait  
**emma** : when were you told this?

 **mikado** : just now, in an email  
**mikado** : perhaps i should forward it over

 **emma** : oo please do

 **nikkei** : so  
**nikkei** : let me get this right  
**nikkei** : we have a _week_  to make some sorta presentation abt what we want changed w the school  
**nikkei** : and then we gotta show it to other people

 **mikado** : pretty much

 **nikkei** : ugh

 **iroha** : maybe it won't be as bad as you think!

 **emma** : yeah!  
**emma** : don't just write us off as bad already nikkei

 **mikado** : clever pun :)

 **emma** : thanks  
**emma** : i try

 **nikkei** : really wish you wouldnt sometimes

 **mikado** : only sometimes :)) ?

 **iroha** : nikkei, you're opening up your heart!  
**iroha** : just like in pokémon colosseum, you're being purified

 **nikkei** : thanks, i hate it  
**nikkei** : wtf are we gnna do about the whole presentation tho

 **hajime** : We can start asking tomorrow  
**hajime** : I'd ask on the GC but hearing it in person seems so much easier

 **emma** : sounds like a plan!  
**emma** : we’ll compile all of their answers into a powerpoint  
**emma** : then BAM  
**emma** : presentation secured

 **iroha** : epic!

 **mikado** : thank you emma chan  
**mikado** : very epic :)

 **emma** : thank you :)  
**emma** : though i can’t lie to you all  
**emma** : i don’t know how to operate a computer very well

 **hajime** : Oh, really?  
**hajime** : I didn’t expect that from you

 **emma** : i didn’t have technology for ages so i’m only just learning  
**emma** : yuki’s been doing his best to teach me but i’m a tad hopeless

 **iroha** : i love using powerpoint  
**iroha** : i used to help with my parents with art meetings

 **mikado** : art meetings?

 **nikkei** : what now

 **iroha** : they have to showcase their art to museums with like...  
**iroha** : _”why should our museum take in your art?”_  themed powerpoints  
**iroha** : it sounds boring and it is

 **hajime** : Each person to their own, I suppose  
**hajime** : That being said, we’ll put you in charge of the powerpoint then  
**hajime** : Is that ok @mikado ?

 **mikado** : that’s fine  
**mikado** : iroha chan can do well :)

 **iroha** : ...you sound a little hostile there

 **mikado** : no hostility  
**mikado** : when have i ever been hostile to you :)

 **iroha** : when i couldn’t reach the top cupboard shelf yesterday

 **mikado** : i _did_  ask you to reach the folders for me…

 **iroha** : I AM SHORTER THAN YOU

 **mikado** : damn  
**mikado** : that sucks :/

 **emma** : mikado please lol

 **nikkei** : how long are we presenting for

 **hajime** : Did it give us a specific time @mikado?

 **mikado** : i think 5-10 minutes  
**mikado** : not too long

 **nikkei** : ugh

 **hajime** : Hopefully everyone has enough to complain about…

 **mikado** : they will

 **iroha** : they will :3

 **nikkei** : they will.

 **emma** : they absolutely will.

 **hajime** : Understandable.

 **mikado** : i’ll be going now :)

 **hajime** : So suddenly?

 **mikado** : i have works to do  
**mikado** : magic to learn  
**mikado** : shelves to reach.

 **iroha** : i hate you 5 foot man

 **mikado** : 5'9 actually

 **iroha** : !!!!!!!!

 **mikado** : goodbye :)  
**mikado** : i suppose i'll see you all tomorrow

 **hajime** : See you, Mikado

 **emma** : bye leader!  
**emma** : i'm gonna go too then  
**emma** : i still have to do that book report

 **hajime** : Do you need any help with it?

 **emma** : nah  
**emma** : i think i'll be alright  
**emma** : if i get stuck, i got the ultimate poet's number  
**emma** : she's good at this stuff

 **iroha** : understandable  
**iroha** : i'm gonna go do some painting  
**iroha** : see you gamers

 **hajime** : Gamers?

 **iroha** : yeah, gamers!  
**iroha** : i've seen you play mario kart hajime

 **hajime** : That's only because Shinji wanted too  
**hajime** : I'm not a gamer

 **emma** : the first stage - denial

 **nikkei** : lmao

 **emma** : see you guys tomorrow!  
**emma** : we'll do fine so don't worry

 **iroha** : bye :3

 **hajime** : See you guys.  
**hajime** : Emma's probably right  
**hajime** : We'll be fine 


	3. part 3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ft. some of the students from danganronpa rebirth, blowback and hyper h20

class 79 were chosen to be the final group to show their presentation in front of the other student body groups.

"hey, we'll be fine!" huddled in the corner, emma whispered to her fellow members on the table, "we planned _really_  well, didn't we?"

it was true - they had planned and practiced this to death this past week. as the ultimate actress had said, hibiki _definitely_  provided them with...a lot of her ideas to change their school. the rest of their classmates cooperated fortunately well with them too and, by the end of that day, they'd gotten a whole page full of plans on how to improve kibōgamine high.

the actual presentation making process went a lot better than expected, especially considering what they were working with. hajime, mikado and emma focused on talking to their classmates and over the course of the week, iroha and nikkei put together the powerpoint together. truthfully, they'd all managed to kinda shock each other with the amount of effort and hours the five of them put into making a presentation they could all perhaps be proud of.

that being said though, the confidence levels between the five of them varied...to put it kindly.

emma, thank god, was brimming confidence and positive vibes. she'd already memorised everything she was going to say and was now pretty much tasked with reassuring everyone else that they'd be fine. one of her arms strung over iroha's shoulder in a comforting gesture, she used her free hand to throw the other student body members a thumbs up. hajime returned her rationality and gave her a thumbs up back.

on the other spectrum of confidence, iroha and nikkei had never looked so dear inside. the ultimate journalist made it clear from the start he hadn't wanted to be here and, by the looks of things, he refused to let down; he kept his eyes trained down on the table, look of clear frustration on his face. iroha wasn't doing much better, seeming more terrified than anything. the painter wasn't a person you'd typically call anxious or unconfident, though with an audience of a lot more people they didn't know that well...it made sense.

mikado locked eyes with hajime, shooting the boxer his usual mischievous grin. looks like their leader wasn't terrified in the slightest.

currently, class 83's student body group were finishing up their presentation and really, putting them to shame. the ultimate barista and dj, maya canzanilla and kokona tamashiro, were up front talking scarily animatedly and enthusiastically. they had to admit, the green haired barista was _incredible_  at keeping everyone interested in what they were talking about. everything from the content to the presentation itself was well crafted...that only made iroha and nikkei look more stressed.

"-and _that_ , my friends, is what we want to see changed in this not so shithole of a school." seconds later, applause was heard around the room. the other three members of class 83's student body made their way to the front and joined the dj and barista in basking in the appreciation.

"thank you for the... _colourful_  language, ms canzanilla," jin kirigiri sighed, "moving on with our final presentation, class 79?"

class 80's student body on the table beside them shot them all thumbs up, with their own leader ayumu fujimori mouthing "good luck" in their general direction. emma and mikado returned the ultimate unlucky student's smile, though nikkei let out a small groan at it.

"right..." emma began once the five of them were at the front of the class, "hiya everyone! we all worked _really_  hard on this presentation and with the help of class 79's ideas, we think it'll resonate with the rest of you too!" throwing in a fancy word to sound more sophisticated, emma magorobi clearly deserved rights to the group braincell. she spoke with such confidence and intrigue, trying to channel that feeling into her fellow members too.

"oh!" controlling the powerpoint, iroha fumbled out a quick, "um, let's get to it?!" before pressing the enter key and their first point.

→☆←

"-and that, my friends, is why we think the school could benefit from an improved education board."

"...and a school band."

"and a school band...yeah." hajime tried not to sigh at the twins suggestion, although it was amusing to hear nikkei forced to bring it up again.

there was a brief pause before mikado began to speak, cheshire grin reflected to the student body, "that's all, my friends. if you have any questions-" the magician threw a card in the air, with it instantaneously turning into confetti as it dropped, " _ask away._ "

the response was rapid: stunned gasps and applause rang out throughout the room, both from the presentation itself and mikado's funky magic trick. the student body of class 79 all stood at the front, exchanging a mixture of proud and satisfied smiles. even nikkei, who had began with his arms folded and a pointed glare at the audience, had relaxed somewhat alongside his peers.

the five of them made their way back to their table in the corner, mumbling overexcited "thank yous" to the other students congratulating them.

jin kirigiri made his way to the front of the classroom again, hushing the applause and hollers. the principal seemed to sigh in relief, "thank you class 79. what a well made presentation, if i do say so myself." emma patted a sheepish iroha on the back.

there was a beat of silence as the principal gathered his words, "as the current principal of kibōgamine high, i'm very grateful for all of your suggestions on how we can make this school a better place..."

from there, they all received a short lecture on how "lucky" they all were to be chosen as student body members, citing everyone in the room as playing an important and active role in helping the school _grow._  it was a standard and honestly rather bullshit speech, but jin kirigiri was a passionate man who didn't seem to let down for even a minute.

"-so, please do your best as your class' student body representatives. that is all." a round of applause followed before the man left, other members of staff following after him.

_"that-"_  emma began, removing her arm from iroha, "was _awesome!_ didn't we do great!?" she clasped her hands together, looking at the quartet expectantly.

hajime returned her pleased gaze, "y'right. we actually smashed that."

" _smashed?_  how old _are_  you?" the ultimate journalist snorted, only stiffening up when the group's gaze was all on him, "...i guess we didn't do _as_  badly as i thought we would."

that was the best response they could ask for - not that they minded. iroha immediately began raving about the powerpoint praise and mikado's trick to top it all off. they hadn't agreed on the magician doing that, but it came as a nice surprise to end their presentation. the blonde's grin didn't waver although something seemed to gleam in his eyes, if only for a moment.

a few of the other student body groups came up to talk to them briefly about their presentations: class 82's ultimate luck and leader kazuki watanbe spoke to them for a bit, with ayumu and marin joining too; they left shortly after with their own groups.

"we headin' out then guys?" the ultimate boxer asked, receiving the affirmative from the others. unlike their first meeting, nikkei and mikado were in a much better mood, not objecting to joining along. with that, the five of them began to leave the room.

it felt really nice to have done so well in front of everyone. the five of them didn't have much in common but, even so, they'd managed to work well together.

maybe jin kirigiri had done something right picking them after all.


	4. part 4.

"okay, that brings today's student body meeting to a close!" a mixture of cheers, "any last words, leader?"

mikado leaned back in his chair, typical grin on his face, "no. i think that's all hajime chan." from his gloved fingertips, the ultimate magician suddenly produced a handful of confetti - he threw it up into the air to signal the official end of the meeting.

"woah...!" the ultimate painter sat on the edge of her seat, applauding mikado. hajime smiled at the whole ordeal, joining in with the clapping too.

"are you gonna do that at the end of _every_  meeting we have?" sighing light-heartedly, the journalist almost smiled, "you don't _have_  to flex your ultimate talent all the time."

"i don't have to... but that wouldn't be as fun, would it?"

from the other side of the room, the ultimate actress joined in - "he's right! it adds a bit of va va voom, don't you think?"

it'd been around a month since they'd became class 79's student body - so far so good. most of their meetings just involved them discussing the topics mentioned in their weekly whole student body sessions or, really, just fucking around. they'd gotten to know some of the other classes pretty well, even going so far as to have meetings together when it suited them.

between the five of them as well, things had definitely started to change.

despite being in the same class, they weren't all _extremely_  close; everyone had their own sort of specific friendship groups that they mostly stuck with. that being said, the five of them had become much closer than they'd initially expected. their casual conversations and gossip would go on for ages, cracking jokes and learning weird shit about one another pretty much every day.

they'd learnt that mikado's leadership skills were becoming genuinely better than anyone (including himself) would've thought; he definitely knew how to control a discussion and keep everyone interested. nikkei was gradually joining in more with their conversations and thankfully seemed to open up just that bit more. iroha, despite not really listening in a lot of the meetings, would get scarily passionate about certain school policies and actually carried debates kinda well when she wasn't too afraid or lazy. emma proved to be a lot more confident too, usually being the one running their discussions; she was also the one they unofficially appointed to talk to the other student body leaders (her confidence was a curse, in iroha's words.) hajime too, of course, was finding it a lot easier to speak his mind and assert his own opinions.

all in all, they were getting on well with each other.

“well, i for one _support_  mikado and his...magician stuff.” hajime laughed, joining in with emma with cleaning up the classroom. the magician sent him a thankful wink. hajime didn’t really know what to think about that.

putting the classroom back in order wasn’t a very difficult task for them, thankfully. the room itself was practically abandoned but left in pretty decent order. nikkei had called it the “only decent thing jin kirigiri’s given us”, especially since all they didn’t need to clean up much in it. thank fuck for that.

 

“oh, mikado?” the ultimate painter called out, “are you leaving?” the blonde in question already had his school bag slung over his shoulders and, as iroha stated, seemed to be leaving them.

“it seems i am, iroha chan. i’ll be seeing you all tomorrow!” in a flash, mikado sannoji left the room. iroha and hajime let out astonished gasps again, applauding to no one in particular whilst nikkei sighed light-heartedly. the other blonde in the room couldn’t help but chuckle behind her hand; at some point whilst the others were reacting, she’d finished putting out away the stuff they’d used in this meeting.

skipping over to the remaining trio, emma flung her arm around nikkei, “ready to head out, body buddies?”

trying not to laugh at the ultimate journalist trying to squirm out of the actress’ grasp ( _jesus_ , was emma always that strong?), hajime grinned, “sure, why not. one of these days though, we _gotta_  get mikado to walk back with us.”

“dragging nikkei with us is already hard enough…” iroha groaned, “also...body buddies?”

“yeah! we’re all buddies and apart of one body...the _student_  body.” groans could be heard from all around, “don’t be like th-nikkei stop hitting my arm!”

“then unhand me, for fucks sake!” emma relented, albeit reluctantly. the ultimate journalist sighed in relief, picking up his own school bag, “ _thank you_. seriously, why are you people...like this.”

if it wasn’t for the somewhat relaxed demeanour nikkei had, they’d really think he was genuinely pissed off at them. the journalist had definitely broken down some of his walls around them though, enough to occasionally let them all drag him into walking back after meetings; it didn’t happen all the time but hey, they were making progress. mikado would be next on their target list, though he always left at 5pm on the dot. shockingly, always punctual.

“right, let’s go! and- nikkei, i’m not going to grab you again, stop glaring at me!”

“and you think i’ll listen to your rules _because?_ ”

a brief moment of fumbling around her pencilcase before voila, “well, i am the _ruler_  here...after all!” more groans, even from hajime this time around.

“emma, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alot of this is just filler for the actual plot and angst. honestly, not that fond of this chapter at all but p5 is kinda fun


	5. part 5.

kibōgamine student body [5] - 2:03am.

 **hajime** : Hey  
**hajime** : Is anyone else awake?  
**hajime** : Sorry, I know it's late and we aren't really ""homies""

 **emma** : i'm awake!

 **nikkei** : yeah

 **mikado** : bold of you to assume i sleep hajime chan :)

 **iroha** : :3  
**iroha** : oh that's all of us

 **hajime** : Damn, it really is  
**hajime** : You guys can't sleep either?

 **nikkei** : nope

 **mikado** : ^^

 **emma** : no :(  
**emma** : i'm shocked you're up though  
**emma** : aren't you supposed to be mr health?

 **hajime** : When have I _ever_  called myself Mr Health???  
**hajime** : But also, yeah  
**hajime** : I just can't seem to fall asleep at all honestly  
**hajime** : I don't know why.  
**hajime** : What about the rest of you, if you don't mind me asking?

 **emma** : nightmares.

 **mikado** : nightmares :)

 **nikkei** : something like that

 **iroha** : i'm playing smash ultimate

 **mikado** : a happier answer

 **iroha** : :9

 **hajime** : That's heavy sans Iroha  
**hajime** : I won't ask for specifics but are you guys gonna be okay?

 **emma** : yes ^^

 **nikkei** : we'll see ig

 **mikado** : yes :)  
**mikado** : thank you for caring

 **hajime** : Of course dude.  
**hajime** : I know we're all just student body and all but I really care about you all

 **emma** : hey!  
**emma** : you don't consider us friends?

 **nikkei** : student body zoned by makunouchi, huh.

 **hajime** : I _do_  think of you all as friends  
**hajime** : I just didn't think that was shared to be honest.

 **iroha** : i think you're all my friends  
**iroha** : even mikado.

 **mikado** : i apologized for making fun of your height last week

 **iroha** : YOU DID IT AGAIN YESTERDAY

 **mikado** : oh, so i did.  
**mikado** :  
**mikado** : tragic

 **iroha** : join the student body they said  
**iroha** : it'll be FINE they said

 **nikkei** : principal is wack for forcing us into student body still

 **emma** : true!  
**emma** : but i like it here  
**emma** : i consider you all my friends, personally  
**emma** : we're way past just school colleagues or some shit like that

 **hajime** : Definitely.

 **mikado** : we're _all_  friends?

 **iroha** : yes  
**iroha** : ah brb started another match

 **nikkei** : ultimate at 3am... her mind

 **emma** : or lack thereof

 **mikado** : lol

 **hajime** : Hm  
**hajime** : Hope you don't mind me asking  
**hajime** : What do you think @nikkei ?

 **nikkei** : ...about?

 **hajime** : Us as friends.

 **emma** : o shit

 **mikado** : well now he's done it

 **hajime** : What have I done????

 **iroha** : i sensed a glitch in the matrix  
**iroha** : you asked nikkei about his _emotions_  
**iroha** : hajime braver than the US marines out here...

 **hajime** : Is that a sore spot?  
**hajime** : I'm so fucking lost here

 **nikkei** : ,  
**nikkei** : sort of.  
**nikkei** : ill explain some other day  
**nikkei** : i guess to some extent  
**nikkei** : i don't hate all of your company

 **mikado** : do you like my company? :)

 **nikkei** : 

 **mikado** : :(

 **emma** : that basically means he loves us  
**emma** : we love you too, you emotionally repressed sponge

 **nikkei** : i am NOT emotionally repressed  
**nikkei** : that doesn't sound epic at all

 **iroha** : i'm turning off smash  
**iroha** : i feel a lil woozie

 **mikado** : lucky you :(

 **hajime** : I feel a bit sleepier  
**hajime** : I don't know what's keeping me up though.  
**hajime** : We have school tomorrow too so we're all sort of fucked.

 **mikado** : i sleep in class anyway  
**mikado** : a magician doesn't need education

 **nikkei** : ugh  
**nikkei** : we do

 **iroha** : permission to sleep in our student body meeting leader? @mikado

 **mikado** : yeah why not

 **hajime** : She sleeps most of the time in our meetings though??

 **iroha** : maybe so  
**iroha** : but i have over 500 hours of gameplay on ultimate cos of it

 **emma** : we should all play together one day

 **nikkei** : sounds fun

 **mikado** : all of us?

 **emma** : yeah!  
**emma** : we all have switches  
**emma** : i say we all fight to the death!

 **hajime** : Sure!

 **iroha** : aren't you a little mac main? @hajime

 **hajime** : Yeah.

 **nikkei** : ://

 **hajime** : I'm the Ultimate Boxer, what do you expect?

 **nikkei** : a lot more ngl

 **mikado** : once again, tragic

 **iroha** : :3c  
**iroha** : hey  
**iroha** : i know it's a little sudden  
**iroha** : but why don't we do something after school tomorrow?

 **hajime** : After the meeting?

 **iroha** : yes c:  
**iroha** : we could play smash ultimate then or something

 **emma** : i'm gonna kickstart this with a yes  
**emma** : where are we going tho?

 **nikkei** : iroha practically lives in a palace so,,,

 **hajime** : How?

 **iroha** : tax fraud

 **hajime** : Understandable  
**hajime** : I'll bring my switch tomorrow then, why not (sg)

 **iroha** : @nikkei @mikado ?  
**iroha** : what we saying boys?

 **nikkei** : oh  
**nikkei** : yeah sure

 **emma** : you don't have to commit to it rn

 **nikkei** : i want to  
**nikkei** : sure :)

 **hajime** : Mikado?

 **mikado** : ah  
**mikado** : can i get back to you guys

 **iroha** : :3c ?

 **mikado** : i just gotta convince my family first i suppose

 **emma** : if you can't dw about it  
**emma** : we'll reschedule when you can

 **nikkei** : ^^

 **mikado** : thank you  
**mikado** : i'll see what i can do

 **iroha** : sweet!  
**iroha** : and you didn't think we were friends @hajime

 **hajime** : I didn't think you all considered ME a friend too  
**hajime** : As Nikkei would say,  
**hajime** : "Fake news."

 **nikkei** : lmao  
**nikkei** : i think im gonna try and sleep now  
**nikkei** : i'm not tryna sleep thru classes

 **iroha** : why not?

 **nikkei** : setsuka drew a dick on me last time

 **hajime** : Her mind...  
**hajime** : I'm seconding that btw  
**hajime** : I feel a lot more tired now  
**hajime** : Talking to you guys has taken the stress off a lot

 **emma** : oohhh really?  
**emma** : our power!

 **mikado** : we did _that_

 **iroha** : xD  
**iroha** : my switch is on 5% so that's my cue too

 **emma** : hm  
**emma** : same here  
**emma** : the sleepiness part i mean  
**emma** : my drowsiness beating out my fear atm

 **nikkei** : you're trusting yourself on that?

 **emma** : i gotta  
**emma** : or else kokoro psycho-analyses me again

 **iroha** : valid

 **mikado** : i suppose i shall be off then too :)

 **hajime** : You gonna be okay?

 **mikado** : who knows ~  
**mikado** : but i haven't slept well in a few days so i'll probably be fine

 **hajime** : Wait what

 **iroha** : sounds epic  
**iroha** : good night!

 **hajime** : That suddenly?  
**hajime** : Well, I'll be going then too

 **emma** : i guess you could say  
**emma** : hajime is all _knocked out!_

 **hajime** : We went an ENTIRE conversation without a pun from you  
**hajime** : You're really gonna ruin it like that?

 **emma** : i was too shaken before  
**emma** : but i'm fine now  
**emma** : opened up my third eye and my chakras aligned  
**emma** : the pun just came out!

 **nikkei** : i hate you

 **emma** : i love you too nikkei!  
**emma** : goodnight guys

 **mikado** : good night :)  
**mikado** : i hope you all sleep well

 **nikkei** : for personal reasons im clocking out  
**nikkei** : cya

 **hajime** : Goodnight guys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the overall plan for this fic is done and most of the characterisation of this au is done too. i hope this chapter's alright :)
> 
> cya


	6. part 6.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing anything that isn't texting based is very difficult for me so hopefully it's alright. :)

kibōgamine student body (5) - 3:56pm.

**mikado** : hello friends :)  
 **mikado** : i have rather important news to discuss with you all after school

**emma** : ooh  
 **emma** : what is it?

**nikkei** : ,,,ominous  
 **nikkei** : is it bad

**mikado** : who knows :)

**nikkei** : ????

**emma** : the suspense!!  
 **emma** : keep up that energy mikado

**mikado** : hajime chan and iroha chan have their phones off, i presume

**nikkei** : guess so.  
 **nikkei** : cya after school

**emma** : see you soon!

**mikado** : :)

  
→☆←

around 5 minutes or so after their text conversation, iroha and hajime arrived to their usual meeting classroom. the trio had already set up a circle of chairs in preparation for their late arrivals.

“sorry we’re late. we sorta lost track of time talking to sora.” hajime offered a remorseful smile, taking his seat alongside the ultimate painter.

“so…” nikkei started up, “what’s this news you’ve got for us, huh?” their leader simply smiled and pulled out his phone - he seemed to be trying to find something. seconds later, he cleared his throat.

“ _dear student body of class 79..._ ” putting on some kind of authoritative tone, mikado read out from his phone, “ _as you know, the yearly school festival falls on june 25th. every class will need to prepare their own unique stall for other students and visitors alike. as the student body, you’re in charge of preparation for your own class. good luck!_  ...is what it says.” there was a brief silence between the student body members, with mikado glancing at all of them curiously.

he put his phone back in his pocket, debating whether to voice his thoughts but was thankfully saved by iroha’s distressed wailing.

“we have to do _what?!_ ” who would’ve thought such a gigantic sigh of distress could come out of someone so tiny? iroha threw down her sketchpad, hands now clasped around her cheeks in frustration.

truthfully, they’d all kept the school festival out of their minds completely so this was a gigantic shock for them. with no prior warning or much information to help, they were being given a little over a month to prepare. it was an unspoken shared realisation that this wasn’t exactly something they could halfass either - no, school festivals at kibōgamine were well-renowned for being over the top and showy. it hadn’t crossed their minds that they would be in charge of making something this year to showcase that but now that it was...the anguish could be felt between all of them.

“does...does it tell us anything more, leader?” emma asked, trying to put on a hopeful smile.

mikado thought to himself for a moment before remembering, “the theme is hope this year. it did have a list of possible ideas...but i didn’t care to remember it, dearest emma chan. other than that, we’re going in cold.” nothing he’d said did anything to stop the distressed looks on iroha, hajime or nikkei’s faces, or the contemplative look on emma’s face.

“hope...what kind of theme is that?”

“...it’s apart of the school motto, isn’t it?” nikkei sat up, sighing inwardly, “jin kirigiri pushes it like, every meeting we have. no fucking clue how we’re s’pposed to show it though.” he shared an understanding glance with the ultimate boxer. thinking about it, jin kirigiri definitely had some sort of fascination with hope - allegedly, the school used to accept ultimate hope-like students years back even.

there was another beat of silence.

“i think,” emma started, leaning slightly forward in her chair, “we should ask the others for ideas. this is a whole class thing after all, and they’re helpful friends?” always looking for the positive in situations, the ultimate actress chanced a smile at her fellow members.

she did probably have a point in saying that. knowing them, their classmates were bound to have some sort of gigantic idea for the festival and linking hope into it...whatever the hell jin kirigiri meant by that. between the five of them right now, it was clear that they didn’t have a clue what to do (despite emma’s optimism and mikado’s expressionless face.)

“what exactly is _hope?_ ” all eyes turned to the ultimate boxer, “not to sound dumb or anything, but it isn’t really...all too clear what the school wants from us.”

“it’s wanting something to happen, isn’t it?” iroha’s slump had long since ended, with the brunette now propped up on her seat, “we all hope for things to happen! that sort of thing, i think.”

a scoff from the ultimate journalist, “so what...some kind of fortune-telling shit? that’s sort of lame, even for our class.” iroha deflated once again. whilst nikkei’s words were blunt, they all silently agreed with him. something like a fortune-telling stall seemed way too generic for class 79, and they couldn’t imagine any of their classmates _actually_  agreeing to it. the real kicker: as far as they knew, none of class 79 knew shit about the future or wishing...some other class with an _actual_ / ultimate fortune teller or whatnot would do a much better job.

cue: more sounds of distress.

“...is that all hope is though?”

all gaze dropped to their leader. mikado’s face was still devoid of any readable emotion, though it slowly morphed to one of deep internal thought. the blonde didn’t bother to meet any of his fellow members’ gazes as he spoke again.

“i suppose you could say hope...is very much like trust.” he paused, trying to choose his words very carefully, “you have hope in other people, or perhaps hope in ourselves to do well. i think that's the whole notion of hope jin kirigiri is alluding to, anyway. it’s a mysterious thing but...hope is the thing that keeps us going, regardless of how bad the situation is.”

there was another beat of silence.

“...alright ultimate poet.” nikkei mumbled. the journalist couldn’t help but look curiously at their leader though, much like everyone else, not expecting something like that from...well, _mikado sannoji._

a thoughtful hum from the ultimate actress, “you know, i never thought about it that way. mikado, you really have such a mystical way with words!” said boy finally looked up, smiling blankly at emma (it was a rather hesitant smile but it wasn’t as if anybody noticed at the time.)

“y’know, the whole concept of trust sounds kinda cool.” hajime agreed, “we’d probably figure out something to make outta that.”

iroha clapped her hands together, stormy demeanour now vanished, “as expected of our leader! we’re less screwed now!” maybe the painter was being a little _too_  optimistic but for now, everyone seemed to agree they had a much better idea of what their festival ideas could be - plus a greater appreciation of mikado. for someone who consistently presented themselves as wholly mischievous, perhaps he was a lot smarter than any of them gave him credit for.

“i think with all that in mind then…” emma gleamed, “mikado! can you work your magic and pull that email back up? you said it had suggestions on it.” the magician complied, wordlessly pulling his phone out again. the other four members proceeded to crowd around the magician, peering over his shoulders.

“are we forwarding this to the classroom group chat?”

“yeah, they’re gonna need to know what’s up too.” hajime nodded at nikkei, moving his hand onto mikado’s shoulder, “we’ll leave that up to you leader.”

clapping her hands appreciatively, emma cheered, “let’s not worry too much guys. we’re class 79!”

“w-which means…?”

“that i have full _hope_  we’ll make something amazing!” cue, collective groans from hajime, nikkei and iroha.

“emma, _please_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> up next - the other class 79 members appear


	7. part 7.

“..psst. hajime.”

a light kick at the side of his chair.

“h-ugh...you leave me no choice.” truthfully, he should’ve expected the sudden elbow jab on his right side, although he didn’t expect it to hurt nearly as much as it did. the ultimate boxer held in a shout, instead taking in a heavy intake of air. thank god their teacher was facing the other way.

“ok ok!” hajime sighed, keeping his voice at a whisper, “what do you want emma?” the ultimate actress smiled brightly at him, wordlessly passing him a folded note. the boxer could’ve screamed knowing that this sharp pain emma had practically punched into his side was all at the expense of a little piece of paper...but they _were_  in the middle of class. he doubted the rest of class 79 would want to hear his woes.

unfolding the piece of paper, hajime let out a small “oh” sound.

 _”as soon as baldie’s finished this boring lecture, let’s tell the others about the festival! :) mikado nikkei and iroha are already on board sooo”_  the wording and the writing itself was so unmistakably emma magorobi that it made him smile slightly.

the lesson itself wasn’t that interesting - truthfully, he’d stopped taking information in a few minutes ago. looking at his fellow classmates, the sentiment seemed to be shared. syobai (despite actually turning up to a lesson for once) was completely passed out on his own desk, whilst iroha beside him doodled conspicuously in her sketchbook. yuri and kanade seemed to be passing notes to each other too, albeit much more secretively. he would _never_  understand their relationship. the thought of ending this boring lesson and telling everyone about the festival admittedly gave hajime a rush of joy; call it childish but he was really looking forward to hearing everyone’s ideas!

for now though, they had 20 minutes of class left. slumping down on his desk, hajime tuned back into the lesson again.

→☆←

the very second their teacher left the classroom, emma shot up. she slammed her hands on her desk, shouting a rushed “we have an announcement!” and terrifying the living daylights out of their classmates (even iroha let out a shriek and mikado a sharp flinch.) the blonde made her way to the front of the class, beckoning the other student body members to join her.

“fellow classmates, we must speak with you all urgently.” mikado began, “the class festival is coming up.”

“we’ve gotta think of a stall idea!” iroha clapped. there were a few groans here and there from some of their classmates, but others seemed a lot more intrigued than anything.

an exaggerated sigh from hibiki, “ _well?_  don’t just stand there, what’s the theme this year?”

“our theme...is hope.” ah, _there_  were the collective groans and shouts they expected. generally, everyone seemed rather done with jin kirigiri’s speeches about hope in their daily school life that the word alone was enough to exhaust them all.

“you’re joking right?” silence from the student body reps, “...good lord, you’re _not_  joking.” saying that, yoruko looked more frustrated than ever - sora gave her a few comforting pats on the shoulder.

“how are we supposed to…” yuki sighed, thinking about his words, “express hope in a festival stall? isn’t that rather impossible?” as soon as the words left his mouth, shinji threw his arm around yuki. the ultimate lucky student let out a stunned cry, though it was muted by the firefighter’s loud laughter.

“hey now, nothing’s impossible!” the redhead gleamed, turning his attention to the student body members, “we just gotta think of somethin’ _together_  guys!”

setsuka nodded in agreement, “shin’s right. mi and the guys must already have some ideas, hm?” receiving blank looks from the student body members, the billiards player chuckled, “why don’t we all brainstorm together then? big sis knows we’ll come up with something amazing.” say what you want about her, but setsuka’s reassurance was nothing if not convincing - even syobai seemed vaguely interested in what she had to say (or at least, they thought he did. the man was still an enigma to them all.)

the class 79 students all moved to sit in a circle, with the majority of them sat propped up on their desks.

“so, _hope!_ ” usual optimism in her voice, emma started off, “the school were kinda vague about what it meant but we were all thinking...maybe we should do something to do with trust?”

“trust and hope...that sounds like a good place to start.” sora mused. everyone else seemed to agree that it was a much easier concept to discuss rather than just outright ‘hope’, at least. the ultimate potential moved to the edge of her desk, “where do we go from there?”

a brief silence, promptly broken by the ultimate vocalist - “oh, i know, i know! we could do something like a trust exercise! _having hope in your friends_...that sorta thing!”

“that’s kind of bland, sis.” blunt as ever, kanade shrugged. setsuka immediately scolded the younger twin for being too harsh on her blushing counterpart, but she did have a point. with their school’s prestige, jin kirigiri expected a lot from them all. frustratingly, half-assing their festival stall wasn’t an option.

“...is that it?” emma sighed, smile faltering, “does nobody else have _any_  ideas at all?”

“ _doragaya emma_...it is such a hard concept to think of, no?” the ultimate astronaut tutted.

“we gotta think of something though. i have _hope_  in all of you!” cue the groans. even kokoro seemed just about ready to snap at the blonde’s puns (not that she ever would, of course.)

there was a beat of silence before iroha mumbled out “hope buns?” it was said so quietly that it could’ve gone unnoticed but such was not the case in class 79.

“buns of hope?” the ultimate astronaut questioned aloud, vaguely resembling the confused maths lady meme, “you want us to bake?”

“none of our ultimate talents are cooking based.” sora sighed.

“hey now sosie, you don’t need an ultimate talent to know how to bake!” hibiki pointed out, gaining a supportive clap from her twin sister, “we could still do it!”

to everyone’s surprise, kokoro spoke up, “realistically speaking, how many of us know how to bake.”

out of the fifteen of them, a few hands went up. mikado, yuri, emma and sora all had some sort of baking experience but that was it. the idea of anything baking or cooking related, whilst not necessarily needing a talented person, would probably only work out if they all had some kind of knowledge of the task at hand. emma gave iroha a small consoling pat on the back for the death of her idea.

a few more dry ideas were pumped out from the group resulting in even more criticism and complaints over the festival’s theme; class 79 were already exhausted. the crestfallen atmosphere could be felt throughout the room, with even the more optimistic students looked doubtful and lost.

“y’know…” hajime started, all eyes now on him, “we were havin’ trouble thinking up ideas in our meeting the other day too. i was just thinking....maybe we should look at this from another angle?”

a gasp, “another angle...bro, your _mind_.” he hadn’t really done anything, yet shinji looked so proud of him. truthfully, there was just something so reassuring about getting the shinji kasai look of approval alone.

“what do you mean by that though?” yoruko asked, hand resting on her cheek.

the sound of flicking pages and a clicking pen made all focus turn to the ultimate journalist, “let’s try it this way then. what is hope to all of you?”

“oh, like individually?” iroha brightened up, “i like that!” nikkei rolled his eyes unconsciously, although smiling faintly afterwards.

“i know it’s a basic answer but i just hope to do well in life...and for everything to go vaguely well?” yuki laughed hesitantly.

“your answer isn’t basic at all yuki!” you’d think with how often this happened, yuki wouldn’t yelp as much at shinji’s grasp, “it’s a good starting point for us all!”

hajime nodded, “bro’s right. iroha said the same thing: we all hope to not do too shit in life.”

“i didn’t say it like that!” the painter pouted, “but yeah. i really hope i don’t fail either.”

“we just hope for things in general, don’t we?” sora hummed, “i hope to be happy, personally.”

“oh? who hurt you sora?”

“ _you._ ” the ultimate potential glared at mikado, resulting in a mischievous wink from the latter.

from that, the class of 79 went around in a circle discussing what hope meant to each of them individually. a lot of their answers were very similar but that didn’t stop nikkei from noting every word down - anything and everything was needed to help them think of something.

“hope for me...is trusting the people in my life to help me do well.” yoruko.

“call it dumb but hope is that little thing telling you yes when the world is telling you no!” hibiki.

“i have _strong_  hope to go into space again. achieving my dreams, like that.” yuri.

“i guess hope is doing well. there isn’t much i want from life but if you really want an answer, that’s it.” kanade.

“hope is what i have in all of _you!_  anything is possible if you believe it is, and hope is that thing that keeps ya goin’ in your beliefs, you know?” shinji.

with every answer written down, the atmosphere of the room seemed to lighten a bit. the earlier distress that came with making up something to do with hope wasn’t as bad, especially considering everyone had their own thoughts on the topic. hajime scooted over so he could peer over nikkei’s shoulder and _damn_ , did they already have a lot of ideas. moving back, he settled back into watching emma and setsuka prod syobai for a valid answer, smiling freely to himself.

→☆←

the school bell rang out again, signalling it’d been 20 minutes since school had ended - a useless bell typically by anyone’s standards.

“well, on that note, i need to go.” sora slipped off her desk, grabbing her bag, “tsurugi san has this whole-” the slamming of their classroom door stopped her line of thought and jolted a few of the students.

“wh... _syobai._ ” the ultimate broker managed to slip out of the room unnoticed. nobody was really surprised at this point, albeit slightly annoyed. they had to commend his stealth though honestly.

from beside hajime, yuri let out a yawn, “i must agree with the little ledi here. we can talk later, mhm?”

iroha took her phone out of her bag, signalling for her classmates’ attention, “hey, why don’t we just use the class group chat to brainstorm? it _has_  been kinda dead lately!” they’d created the group chat at the start of the year as more of a necessity than anything, although everyone used it a lot more than they’d ever admit. it definitely let them yet closer to each other, even though there were some people who rarely came online (syobai was still the class cryptid, of course, and kokoro didn’t see much use in using her tablet for communication.)

“good idea roro!” hibiki applauded.

“that sounds like a plan!” emma joined in, turning her attention to kokoro beside her, “promise you’ll text us too?” the ultimate psychologist thought about it momentarily before letting out a small sigh, eventually nodding, “alright.” it didn’t take a psychology degree to notice the way the actress’ eyes lit up completely at that.

“if that’s all, we’ll be going now.” with yoruko and yuki by her side, sora waved to her other classmates “see you in the chat.” the trio left promptly, soon followed by yuri and shinji leaving together. the twins and setsuka left a few minutes after, dragging an exhausted kokoro with them and leaving the student body members alone.

the five of them exchanged varying levels of hopeful looks to one another: this went slightly better than they thought. sure, they didn’t have any concrete ideas for their festival stall yet but at least everyone was mostly on board with helping.

nikkei handed mikado the pieces of paper he’d been noting down on, “here. you’ll have more use for it than me.” the magician appeared momentarily confused before he smiled, graciously slipping the note into his blazer pocket.

“you know…” the painter started, smiling sheepishly,” it’s of my _professional opinion_  that _maybe_...we don’t need to stay for a meeting today? i-i mean...after all that, you know.”

nikkei cocked his head to the side, “you just want to go home and game.”

“m-maybe so.” she huffed, moving to justify herself, “i have an art piece to finish as well though!”

as their leader and, realistically, the owner of the braincell, all of them looked to mikado for his input. the blonde didn’t even pretend to think about it, shrugging out a quick “we’ve done enough for today.”

“it’s decided then, let’s go home!” emma gleamed, putting an arm around the ultimate painter (iroha seemed too accustomed to it to react this time around), “we’ve done well today, don’t you think?”

in the midst of gathering his school supplies, the ultimate boxer agreed, “yeah. i don’t know what i expected but that went...actually a lot better than i thought? we might actually come up with something soon.”

“guess we’ll see what happens on the group chat.” nikkei shrugged, receiving a nod from their leader. the journalist took a moment to adjust his hat and blazer before letting out a sigh, “what are you people waiting for? let’s go.”

and, with that, the five student body members of class 79 left the classroom together. weirdly enough, it was the first time they’d all walked out together considering how quickly the magician left alone. the five of them talked in their usual joking manner, now having mikado to join in (albeit on mocking iroha’s height once again.)

everything seemed to be right on track.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing the other characters in this chapter was really fun, especially hibiki and shinji :) 
> 
> teruya isn't in this class (he's w the dra group) but he'll appear in later chapters, definitely


	8. part 8.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> should say ; i have little to no knowledge about russian so some of the words/phrases yuri says here probably aren't right.

class 79 gang™ [15] - 5:06pm.

 **emma** : hey everyone!

 **yoruko** : hey :P  
**yoruko** : its refreshing to see the gc alive again

 **emma** : yeah  
**emma** : why'd we let it die again?

 **shinji** : ya didnt respond to my positive vibe memes

 **hibiki** : _that's_  what they were??

 **emma** : OH  
**emma** : honestly, i thought you'd finally snapped at us!

 **yuri** : as the only man i respect  
**yuri** : they had very menacing energy, shinji

 **shinji** : i-i see

 **yuki** : it's okay big bro  
**yuki** : i respect your positive memes

 **shinji** : YUKI, BRO! 

 **nikkei** : oh, chats alive

 **hibiki** : nik!

 **emma** : we should get everyone online before we discuss things  
**emma** : nice of you to join us @nikkei !!

 **nikkei** : ,,thank?

 **setsuka** : hello everyone :)

 **emma** : hey!

 **hibiki** : big sis ~

 **sora** : hey.  
**sora** : i’ve never seen so much of us online at the same time before

 **setsuka** : unless we’re collectively clowning our teacher

 **shinji** : perhaps were TOO mean to them

 **kanade** : it’s what he deserves! ♪

 **yuki** : kinda have to agree with kanade on this one

 **iroha** : school is boring

 **nikkei** : you sleep through most of it????

 **iroha** : don’t cyberbully me!!!

 **hajime** : It isn’t really cyberbullying if he’s being truthful

 **shinji** : bro!  
**shinji** : do not invalidate the girl’s cause!!

 **syobai** : so this is why my phone wont shut it

 **emma** : SYOBAI :D

 **iroha** : 

**kanade** : top 10 most shocking anime appearances…

 **nikkei** : you actually showed up  
**nikkei** : gj dude

 **syobai** : i wasnt given a choice.

 **mikado** : sometimes that’s just how it is syobai chan :)  
**mikado** : we’re happy you are here nonetheless

 **sora** : oh  
**sora** : so he _did_  show

 **syobai** : and what of it?

 **yuri** : i am sensing the tension  
**yuri** : but это не мое дело

 **yoruko** : not sure what that says but like, mood

 **hajime** : Isn’t everyone here now?

 **yuki** : oh, yeah!

 **sora** : seems like it

 **mikado** : we’ve succeeded in something already  
**mikado** : such strong hope :)

 **emma** : right guys  
**emma** : ideas!

 **kanade** : didn’t we already do this earlier? ♪

 **sora** : i wonder if anything we came up with helped at all.

 **mikado** : nikkei chan wrote down a lot :)

 **nikkei** : i mean  
**nikkei** : its all stuff you guys said  
**nikkei** : its gotta be helpful, right?

 **shinji** : thats the spirit nikkei!

 **yoruko** : hm  
**yoruko** : do you know what the other classes are doing?

 **mikado** : ah, i didn’t ask.  
**mikado** : perhaps i should.

 **setsuka** : nonsense mi  
**setsuka** : we’ve got to think of something original  
**setsuka** : something with that class 79 flavour <3 you know?

 **yuri** : but what do we do?  
**yuri** : our ideas are very all over the place  
**yuri** : we lack that...

 **hibiki** : say it, coward

 **yuki** : h-hibiki!

 **yuri** : _co-ordination_  
**yuri** : so harsh malyshka..

 **shinji** : there there yuri bro

 **hajime** :  
**hajime** : Yknow

 **iroha** : ah! hajime has an idea

 **nikkei** : emma passed the braincell on so well

 **hajime** : We could just…  
**hajime** : _Combine the ideas_

 **nikkei** :  
**nikkei** : take the braincell back emma

 **iroha** : imagine building up to that  
**iroha** : little mac main energy

 **hajime** : Oh 

 **kokoro** : Shouldn’t we be utilising our ultimate talents?  
**kokoro** : Or, as Hajime said, combining them in some way.

 **yuki** : ,,,aha

 **sora** : _aha._

 **shinji** : hey!  
**shinji** : you can do a lot with luck and potential!

 **yuki** : **a h a**

 **sora** : sounds extremely fake but okay

 **mikado** : hmm  
**mikado** : kokoro chan has a point  
**mikado** : as does hajime chan

 **yuri** : combining our talents?

 **hibiki** : HEY

 **syobai** : agh

 **setsuka** : what is it biki?

 **hibiki** : WHICH ONE OF YALL HAS THE NOTES FROM EARLIER

 **mikado** : that would be me :)

 **hibiki** : remember that thing shin said?

 **shinji** : m  
**shinji** : me????

 **mikado** : ah, about having hope in each other

 **hibiki** : and that thing ruko said?

 **yoruko** : ,,hi

 **mikado** : trusting the people around her to help her do well?  
**mikado** : oh, i’m seeing a theme

 **hibiki** : you should be

 **yuki** :  
**yuki** : so. maybe i’m just an idiot but what’s going on?

 **emma** : OH  
**emma** : we all rely on each others hope in some kinda way!  
**emma** : i’m seeing the theme at least ;;

 **hibiki** : exactly!  
**hibiki** : we’ve all got _hope_  in each other as people  
**hibiki** : and each other’s talents…

 **kokoro** : I see where this is going.

 **iroha** : ???

 **hibiki** : i say we combine all of our talents together to make one _epic, amazing, spectacular_  stall!  
**hibiki** : pretty awesome, right?

 **iroha** : !!!!!!!!!!!

 **emma** : i love it! <3

 **kanade** : oh, it’s not a bad idea.  
**kanade** : congrats sis ♪

 **yuki** : all of us using our talents  
**yuki** : that’s actually an amazing idea hibiki!

 **hibiki** : _actually?_  
**hibiki** : its coming from me  
**hibiki** : ofc it’s amazing!!!

 **setsuka** : well, ill start off by saying i love biki’s idea  
**setsuka** : it gives us all the chance to do something  
**setsuka** : it’s got big sis’ seal of approval

 **shinji** : YEAH  
**shinji** : hibikis pretty smart

 **hibiki** : of course i am  
**hibiki** : did u fucking doubt me shin?

 **shinji** : nno  
**shinji** : i wwould n-never

 **sora** : hibiki, stop bullying the poor man.  
**sora** : as for the idea, i think it sounds cool  
**sora** : it’ll keep us all busy

 **yuri** : i like this idea very much  
**yuri** : the little ledi has a lot of smarts

 **nikkei** : mhm  
**nikkei** : i suppose we can find smth to do together

 **setsuka** : aw  
**setsuka** : wheres that enthusiasm, nik?? ;)

 **nikkei** : never heard of her  
**nikkei** :  
**nikkei** : im on board though

 **emma** : yay!  
**emma** : how about the rest of you?

 **syobai** : s alright

 **hibiki** : hey hey!

 **sora** : how kind of you

 **emma** : @kokoro ~ ?

 **kokoro** : Sure.  
**kokoro** : Hibiki’s idea sounds doable.

 **hibiki** : that’s like  
**hibiki** : the most powerful compliment shes ever given me

 **kokoro** : It’ll be nice to have us all working together.  
**kokoro** : I guess.

 **emma** : :) it will

 **iroha** : ,,,

 **yuri** : @yoruko you are being out lesbianed here

 **yoruko** : what  
**yoruko** : oh!  
**yoruko** : hibiki’s idea sounds great!

 **hajime** : So we’re all combining our talents to make one big stall?  
**hajime** : Are we telling a story with it or something?

 **hibiki** : yeah!

 **iroha** : the story of all of our hope in each other, i think?  
**iroha** : it’s a really cool idea!

 **hajime** : I see  
**hajime** : I’ll bite  
**hajime** : It’s a good idea Hibiki :)

 **yuki** : we could make some sort of interactive stall using all of our talents

 **nikkei** : and tell a story with it?

 **iroha** : !!!! :D

 **hibiki** : exactly!  
**hibiki** : im passing the braincell around

 **syobai** : giving back to the poor

 **kanade** : doing us all a service, thanks sis

 **nikkei** : pfft lmao  
**nikkei** : everyone’s kinda hype abt this idea

 **yoruko** : yeah  
**yoruko** : is it the one we’re going with?

 **kokoro** : It depends on what Mikado decides.

 **emma** : @mikado ???

 **mikado** : mhm?

 **setsuka** : you disappeared for a bit mi

 **sora** : wb

 **mikado** : you will not get rid of me that easily :)  
**mikado** : sorry, is anyone okay with bringing me back up to speed?

 **emma** : interactive stall using all of our talents in some kinda way  
**emma** : it’s a symbol of our hope in each other and ourselves, you know?  
**emma** : how does that sound for a stall?

 **mikado** : hm

 **iroha** : owo...the suspense

 **hibiki** : dont just ‘’hmm’’ us!

 **mikado** : it’s a very unique idea  
**mikado** : i say we continue with it :)

 **emma** : yay!

 **shinji** : great choice mikado!

 **hajime** : Hey, we’ve made progress!

 **hibiki** : yeah!!  
  
**yuri** : what do we do from here though  
**yuri** : we have the idea but there is much more to it, yes?

 **sora** : yeah, i was wondering too.  
**sora** : the story sentiment is nice,  
**sora** : but we need to make it marketable, in some way.

 **iroha** : people pay to hear our empowering friendship stories

 **sora** : no.

 **shinji** : i'd pay for that

 **emma** : highkey kinda would too

 **yoruko** : ...why

 **mikado** : hm  
**mikado** : i think we have the premise already

 **setsuka** : i think telling our story of hope is our stall  
**setsuka** : its just the execution we need to think about :)

 **iroha** : i guess that's our job @emma @nikkei @hajime @mikado

 **emma** : _more work?!_

 **nikkei** : aw shit  
**nikkei** : here we go again

 **emma** : lmao  
**emma** : we'll think of something in the next few days and update you guys  
**emma** : trust our creative minds!

 **hajime** : Hardly trust our creative minds ourselves to be honest  
**hajime** : We'll do our best though

 **shinji** : hey, chin up bro!  
**shinji** : no talkin like that

 **emma** : shinji might just have to _box_  that attitude out of you

 **hajime** : Oh.........!!!!

 **kanade** : i can feel his rage through the screen  
**kanade** : cute.

 **mikado** : well, if that is all  
**mikado** : i must be going :)

 **yoruko** : so soon?

 **yuki** : are you okay?

 **mikado** : of course i’m okay yuki chan :)  
**mikado** : i have magician business to attend to

 **setsuka** : so mysterious mi

 **emma** : he isn’t one to _spell_  the tea  
**emma** : ey?

 **mikado** : a

 **hajime** : AAAAAAA  
**hajime** : I am EXHAUSTED I TELL YOU

 **nikkei** : @kokoro collect your woman

 **kokoro** : I hold no responsibility over her or her...lackluster puns.

 **yuri** : it is very quirky

 **sora** : she isn’t like other girls

 **emma** : shut up xD

 **sora** : on that note though, i’m gonna go too  
**sora** : nice talking to you all

 **setsuka** : its been nice talking to you too rara!

 **yuri** : yes  
**yuri** : we have come very far with ideas today  
**yuri** : i am going to leave too now  
**yuri** : i shall see you all in class tomorrow

 **hajime** : Bye Sora and Yuri  
**hajime** : We have done a lot today, huh

 **nikkei** : im going to nap  
**nikkei** : cya

 **setsuka** : this early nik?

 **nikkei** : mhm  
**nikkei** : im all kinds of exhausted rn

 **setsuka** : i don’t blame ya  
**setsuka** : i think big sis is gonna take a nap too x

 **shinji** : rest well friends!  
**shinji** : recharge that energy for tomorrow!!

 **setsuka** : will do shin :) x  
**setsuka** : bye everyone <3

 **hajime** : Bro I think I’d die for her

 **iroha** : bro who _wouldn’t_

 **yuki** : lol

 **shinji** : cant have you dyin on me bro can i?  
**shinji** : up for a gym workout today?

 **hajime** : Hell yeah bro  
**hajime** : I’ll come over now.  
**hajime** : Bye guys :)

 **shinji** : goodbye friends!

 **iroha** : i’d also die for him

 **kanade** : you will

 **emma** : ,,,on that note! i have homework  
**emma** : kokoro and syobai left in silence :(

 **kokoro** : Sorry. Me and Mikako were making dinner.  
**kokoro** : Bye.

 **yoruko** : oh, i could go for food too actually…  
**yoruko** : bye guys <3

 **yuki** : bye :)  
**yuki** : bye to you too @syobai wherever you are

 **syobai** : b

 **hibiki** : one day he’ll stop being so cryptid and learn to love us all back >:/

 **iroha** : i’m gonna go back on splatoon then  
**iroha** : shot in the dark but does anyone wanna...league with lil ol me

 **hibiki** : me and kana will!

 **kanade** : oh, sure.

 **yuki** : i don’t mind hopping on for a bit

 **hibiki** : gamer boyy  
**hibiki** : we love you

 **iroha** : blargh

 **yuki** : i’m not a gamer boy for the last time!  
**yuki** : _this_  is definitely cyberbullying

 **hibiki** : hey!  
**hibiki** : we aren’t bullying you  
**hibiki** : it’s a compliment

 **kanade** : sis, please don’t get us into a controversy  
**kanade** : just get on your switch already. ♪

 **hibiki** : noted :P

 **iroha** : :3c  
**iroha** : if the chat is dead for the rest of the day  
**iroha** : see you all tomorrow!


	9. part 9.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is more of a filler-like one, so that the whole stall planning process in later chapters makes more sense

class 79 gang™ [15] - 10:45am.

 **iroha** : !!!  
**iroha** : rise and grind people  
**iroha** : i need help

 **hibiki** : you need help?

 **mikado** : reaching the top shelf? :(

 **iroha** : HEY

 **sora** : you killed her in broad daylight...

 **mikado** : sorry iroha chan  
**mikado** : the opportunity was there for the taking you see :)

 **iroha** : you’re a mean man  
**iroha** : if it wasn’t for the laws of this land i would’ve slaughtered you  
**iroha** : know this

 **setsuka** : ohhh, we’re talking rather early aren’t we?  
**setsuka** : good morning everyone x

 **sora** : morning setsuka

 **hibiki** : hey suka!! ♬

 **yuki** : good morning  
**yuki** : what’s going on?

 **iroha** : me and emma were talking about the project last night  
**iroha** : there’s so much of everyone that we need to put in the project  
**iroha** : so i need your help :3

 **hibiki** : i’ll go get sis!! ♬

 **kanade** : hello. ♪  
**kanade** : i’ve been “gotten”

 **emma** : hey!

 **yuki** : big bro and hajime are both here in spirit

 **sora** : you’re w them?

 **yuki** : yeah, funny story actually  
**yuki** : i kinda got dragged to the gym with them?? aha

 **kokoro** : That’s really unfortunate.  
**kokoro** : Your vulnerability to peer pressure sure is something.

 **yuki** : i

 **kanade** : no mercy killing.

 **iroha** : welcome to the murdered in broad daylight club

 **yuri** : hello  
**yuri** : im on a 15 minute break  
**yuri** : what is going on?

 **setsuka** : morning yu

 **emma** : we’re just talking about the project yuri ~

 **yuri** : i see  
**yuri** : i was wondering too  
**yuri** : how do we put all of us in one tiny stall

 **sora** : the stalls are actually rather big, aren’t they?

 **kokoro** : They are.  
**kokoro** : We aren’t exactly limited in how much space we use, so there’s been a few big stalls over the years.

 **mikado** : oh? i didn’t expect all of this from kokoro chan

 **hibiki** : yeah…  
**hibiki** : its kinda cool hearing from you

 **kokoro** : I was forced to go to a lot of school festivals with Mikako over the years so I know a bit.  
**kokoro** : Don’t expect too much from me.

 **emma** : we’re thankful for it either way :D

 **kokoro** :  
**kokoro** : Thanks.

 **yuri** : hm  
**yuri** : we could do big

 **yuki** : how big?

 **yuri** : very big

 **iroha** : fuwa…

 **nikkei** : ,,,the fuck

 **yoruko** : my thoughts exactly  
**yoruko** : weird how we agree for once

 **sora** : morning

 **yoruko** : good morning sora :)

 **setsuka** : heya nik and ruko x  
**setsuka** : we're just discussing the stall

 **mikado** : welcome :)  
**mikado** : it seems that's most of us  
**mikado** : hajime chan and shinji chan are busy "pumping the iron" as they say

 **yoruko** : ...who says that???

 **kanade** : i'm actually shaking who says that

 **emma** : so, all of our talents are really different  
**emma** : we need to merge them in some way...

 **yuki** : that's really hard though

 **yuri** : hm  
**yuri** : we could put them together  
**yuri** : that was the plan, yes?

 **hibiki** : well yeah! ♬  
**hibiki** : it does...sound kinda difficult tho

 **nikkei** : what exactly is our stall gonna be  
**nikkei** : sorry to bring it up

 **setsuka** : no need to apologize nik  
**setsuka** : biki mentioned it being like a story, right?

 **kanade** : an interactive story  
**kanade** : something like that.

 **nikkei** : oh

 **sora** : we figure out how to do that and then we have our answer, is how i see it.

 **yoruko** : an interactive story...

 **shinji** : GOOD MORNING CLASSMATES  
**shinji** : me and hajime bro are takin a break

 **hajime** : Hey.  
**hajime** : What’s goin on?

 **hibiki** : planning

 **shinji** : I SEE!  
**shinji** : i hope we havent missed much

 **yuri** : no  
**yuri** : we are just discussing how the stall will work

 **sora** : how are we going to make the stall interactive?  
**sora** : we’re all agreed on that being the whole point of our stall but, how.

 **hajime** : We’ll personally all be there?

 **iroha** : ,,,like  
**iroha** : talking to the people???

 **kokoro** : Definitely not.

 **setsuka** : that’d be overwhelming for a lot of us  
**setsuka** : so maybe not interactive in that way x :)

 **emma** : we all wanna tell our story though, right?

 **kanade** : so?  
**kanade** : we just find another way to do it.

 **yuri** : the ledi speaks true  
**yuri** : we can interact without actual interaction

 **shinji** : we can?

 **yuri** : perhaps

 **iroha** : yknow  
**iroha** : have you ever been to a museum?

 **mikado** : a museum?

 **sora** : yeah, of course.

 **hibiki** : bold of u to assume i can read roro

 **yoruko** : what about the museum?

 **iroha** : a lot of the ones i’ve done displays at have these thingies  
**iroha** : you get given headphones and get given an audio tour of the museum  
**iroha** : like, it tells you about the paintings so you don’t have to read :3

 **nikkei** : so like an audio walkthrough

 **hajime** : Oh, I get what you mean  
**hajime** : Is it those silent museums, with the headphone tours?

 **iroha** : yeah!  
**iroha** : it’s being interactive without being _interactive_

 **yuri** : she speaks sense  
**yuri** : my break is over. the staff i am with keep glaring at me  
**yuri** : we are definitely in the right direction though

 **hajime** : Yuri, my man  
**hajime** : Godspeed

 **yuri** : i do not rate you _male_ but alright  
**yuri** : Пока friends

 **emma** : bye yuri!

 **hibiki** : cya yu ♬

 **sora** : bye.  
**sora** : where do we go from here?

 **yuki** : interactive without actually being intensely interactive  
**yuki** : an audio tour sounds cool

 **hibiki** : boring is what it sounds like yuyu  
**hibiki** : no offence roro

 **iroha** : u-u

 **shinji** : its alright iroha  
**shinji** : YOU TRIED!

 **emma** : the whole display thing though  
**emma** : we could do something with that

 **setsuka** : yeah  
**setsuka** : a lot of this has to rely on decoration and display

 **nikkei** : so we do something interactive with that?  
**nikkei** : huh

 **yoruko** : i’m honestly kinda confused

 **hajime** : Same here  
**hajime** : I’m stumped for ideas

 **kanade** : and so the texts end. ♪

 **iroha** : everyones gone silent,,, owo

 **mikado** : hm  
**mikado** : may i interject?

 **shinji** : go for it mikado bro!

 **mikado** : sticking to hibiki chan's interactive story idea,  
**mikado** : a story has many different chapters in it, right?

 **iroha** : most of them

 **yuki** : yeah?

 **mikado** : perhaps we could section our stall into parts reflecting our talents?

 **sora** : oh, like a walk through kind of design?

 **mikado** : precisely sora chan :)

 **emma** : we could have people walk through the sections to get to the end!  
**emma** : like, a haunted house and escape room cross over!

 **hibiki** : BAM ♬  
**hibiki** : there's the million dollar idea right there

 **hajime** : Class 79, we've done it again 

 **nikkei** : but wait  
**nikkei** : there's 15 of us  
**nikkei** : that's 15 sections

 **yoruko** : maths genius nikkei

 **nikkei** : quiet...

 **sora** : maybe not everyone needs a section then

 **yuki** : that's...kinda deep sora

 **iroha** : sora said fuck class 79 lives

 **sora** : not like that.  
**sora** : take someone like...the twins.

 **kanade** : hello

 **hibiki** : hey!

 **sora** : they've got musical talents, right?  
**sora** : we could always have them playing over some sort of tannoy in the stall rather than have a whole space dedicated to them.

 **emma** : sora!!!! :D  
**emma** : that's a really good idea!

 **mikado** : someone's thought about this :)

 **sora** : ultimate potential  
**sora** : my potential? being helpful every once in a while

 **yoruko** : on that note, we could always be really interactive with it  
**yoruko** : some of us could be _on_  the stall?

 **hajime** : As the Ultimate Hostess, you'd be really good at that

 **iroha** : so our stall is gonna be a walkthrough one?

 **kanade** : seems so.

 **shinji** : yeah!

 **iroha** : separated into...an undetermined number of rooms?

 **yuki** : wait, how do you move through the rooms?  
**yuki** : do you have to unlock them or something?

 **nikkei** : that's not a bad idea actually

 **hajime** : That's our Yuki for you  
**hajime** : Stimulated his mind at the gym!

 **yuki** : ,,,yes

 **mikado** : you have to do something related to one of our talents to move forward in the room...  
**mikado** : hm?

 **setsuka** : mi, you smart cookie  
**setsuka** : a talent like hajime's could be a boxing challenge

 **iroha** : box hajime into submission

 **syobai** : ,,what

 **yuki** : syobai!  
**yuki** : sorry you had to come into that

 **nikkei** : you get mine and yoruko's pain

 **syobai** : where did i ask

 **yoruko** : sometimes life doesn't give you that choice i'm afraid

 **setsuka** : nobody is beating up haji  
**setsuka** : but we could find one of those boxing machines...  
**setsuka** : i can't quite remember the name x

 **sora** : punch x amount of times to leave?

 **setsuka** : something like that rara x

 **emma** : ooh! that's cool!  
**emma** : we'll figure it out!

 **kanade** : so it's an interactive walkthrough stall.  
**kanade** : would we be able to make something like that in such short time?

 **hibiki** : hell yeah!  
**hibiki** : we're class 79!! ♬

 **yoruko** : realistically, maybe?  
**yoruko** : all 15 of us working together, we'd definitely be able to do a lot

 **nikkei** : feel like we're alright building wise

 **shinji** : we can DEFINITELY help with that

 **hajime** : Yeah 

 **kanade** : i respect that ♪  
**kanade** : actually planning this big of a stall out though?

 **sora** : visually, do you mean?

 **kanade** : sure.

 **iroha** : i think  
**iroha** : we'll see in our meetings

 **mikado** : have hope in us ~ :)

 **setsuka** : our idea right now is solid  
**setsuka** : good work class x

 **yuki** : yeah!  
**yuki** : will you guys keep us in the loop?

 **iroha** : you guys,,?  
**iroha** : oh us!

 **syobai** : idiot

 **mikado** : she's _our_ idiot syobai chan :)

 **iroha** : OI

 **emma** : we'll send our plan related stuff here whenever we come up with something new, yeah!  
**emma** : i think we'll just get straight into sketching the stall ngl

 **sora** : you five doing that alone sounds really hectic.

 **hibiki** : we'll be here to help em sosie!  
**hibiki** : the chats alive for a reason! :v

 **hajime** : Thanks  
**hajime** : We will probably need all the help we can get

 **mikado** : yes  
**mikado** : this is also a class stall built off of our hope for each other  
**mikado** : we will all be involved :)

 **yoruko** : i like that  
**yoruko** : we're all happy to help however we can

 **yuki** : ^^ :]

 **shinji** : YEAH  
**shinji** : whatever you need just say the word!!

 **kokoro** : Alright.

 **mikado** : hm  
**mikado** : perhaps it is a fleeting hopeful thought  
**mikado** : but for some reason, i think this might go well :)

 **sora** : hopefully.

 **iroha** : welll  
**iroha** : i think i might start on a sketch or something  
**iroha** : bye :3c

 **shinji** : me and the bros gotta get back to the weights

 **hajime** : Yeah  
**hajime** : Bye guys.

 **yuki** : oh shit im being dragged off too  
**yuki** : b ye

 **setsuka** : nice knowin you yuyu x

 **hibiki** : me n kana have practice to get to  
hibiki: gl on the sketch roro! ♬

 **kanade** : oh, bye ♪

 **sora** : see you soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the fic starts to get a lot more darker after this chapter and the more triggering/upsetting tags start to make themselves a lot more prominent so if you wish to stop here, that's fine. :) 
> 
> see you soon


	10. part 10.

“so, i should put that...here?” 

“yeah! we’ll play the twins voice over through it.” a hum, “we could always put something else near it…”

iroha sighed, tip of her sketching pencil sat uncomfortably in her mouth. the painter and actress had shown up to club early and were currently attempting to put the whole stall together in some kind of plan.

a few minutes after the final bell rang, hajime and nikkei finally arrived. the boys both looked exhausted, panting and mildly sweating. the painter screamed when she saw them burst in whilst the actress simply sighed, “what the hell have you two been up to?” emma moved closer to the duo, settling herself on the edge of the table. 

“ _we’ve_  just had team sports!” hajime groaned, “you know where the running track is? on the other side of the _bloody_  school!” the boxer dropped his stuff on the floor, joining the girls in sitting on the table. iroha gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder although it didn’t seem to do much to the boxer’s mood. 

“...basically, sorry for being late.” the journalist let out a sigh, putting his stuff beside hajime’s and sitting on the table too.

emma smiled, “it’s fine, don’t _sweat it_  boys!” 

if the lord was testing hajime makunouchi, the boxer was failing. he let out another long winded groan at emma’s pun, resulting in the actress’ laughter. 

“did you two leave mikado behind?” the painter giggled, head peering towards the door. 

finally catching his breath properly, hajime sighed “oh, right. as far as we know, he isn’t in today.” nikkei nodded, not having seen or heard from the magician today either. class 79 were together the majority of the time but today just happened to be the day they decided to separate half of the class - iroha and emma hadn’t had the chance to see either of their fellow student body members, alongside some of their classmates. 

“he isn’t here?” emma frowned, “that’s a shame...it’s not gonna be the same without his magical touch.” silently, the rest of the trio agreed. it was weird in general not having all five of the student body to work off of and share their ideas with, but also mikado just had a presence about him. the room felt slightly sullen without him or his leadership to guide them.

there was a beat of silence - nobody really knew where to go from here.

iroha picked up her pencil again, catching everyone’s attention, “w-well, maybe we should do what we can without him h-here! we’ve...we’ve already decided on a few things on the chat.” the brunette was right - even without mikado here, they still had a faint idea of what the stall needed added to it. the group chat itself had been a massive help over the weekend in giving them ideas and advice. 

“see, iroha’s got it.” nikkei smiled faintly, “we’ve got enough ideas to make a start, haven’t we?” 

from there, iroha and emma started going through what they’d already done before the boys showed up: the twins musical talents and yoruko’s hostess charisma were easy enough to implement into their stall plan. it was all they’d drawn into a plan so far but they were rather proud of themselves. iroha had definitely gone above and beyond in drawing (honestly speaking, hajime was prepared to dub her the unofficial ultimate artist.) 

when the bell rang again signalling the end of their hour, they’d managed to get a bit further in their stall plan. emma was given a job very similar to yoruko’s, just with a lot more acting and interacting to it. iroha was already set to decorate the stall itself (they’d all promised to help her though) and when he came back, the four agreed that mikado could add some kind of magic trick to a part of the stall. 

“i’ll text the group chat tonight, ask ‘em what kinda ideas they still have in mind.” hajime grinned, walking out of the school alongside the other student body members. all of the exhaustion that plagued him and the ultimate journalist had long worn off, with both of them seemingly full of life. it was nice to see hajime back to his usual calm self and having nikkei fairly upbeat was always a win.

“good idea!” the ultimate actress hummed, “i still don’t know how we’re gonna add some of the others’ talents...sora, yuki, syobai and kokoro _especially._ ” the blonde let out an exaggerated huff but continued smiling nonetheless. from beside her, the painter verbally agreed. 

“that’s fine. hajime can ask them on the chat.” the boxer let out a shocked noise, being handed all the responsibility from the journalist. 

a laugh from the actress’ end, “yeah. if worst comes to wear, we’ve still got mikado to have a go at us tomorrow, right?” emma threw her arm around iroha, continuing to chat away with the student body members. as far as they were concerned, the plan was going really well. let it never be said that hibiki otonokoji didn’t possess any braincells because this whole idea she’d come up with was really picking up! hopefully, mikado would check their progress tomorrow and say the same thing.

→☆←

mikado didn’t show up that day though.

or the next day.

he didn’t show up to any classes or respond back to any of their messages.

just

radio

silence.

→☆←

admittedly, the third day was when things really started to get concerning for the student body of class 79.

hajime had missed the majority of classes that day, being volunteered alongside ultimate runner chisa komyoin and ultimate karate practitioner kazuomi samejima for a training session at a local elementary school. the whole event in itself was fun and a huge learning experience, although hajime would be lying if he said he hadn’t missed his friends’ presence all day; he was really looking forward to returning just in time for their student body meeting after school, at least.

“hey, sorry i’m late.” the ultimate boxer called out in the midst of opening the classroom door, “oh...is it just you two today?” weirdly enough, iroha and nikkei were the only ones in their usual classroom, the duo both sat atop one of the tables together. they’d already started working on the stall sketch judging by the pencils and paper laid out in front of them, though the atmosphere wasn’t nearly as upbeat as it usually was. it took hajime a moment to realise that iroha and nikkei were both shooting him looks of concern...and uncomfortable worry. 

“i-i think so...we don’t know where emma went.” sketch pencil tapping rhythmically on the table, iroha frowned. 

“...mikado still isn’t here?”

the duo looked equally uncomfortable at that, with nikkei mumbling a stressed, “nobody’s seen him today.” he couldn’t describe why but something about that instantly made hajime feel uneasy. they’d all chalked up mikado’s disappearance as illness or just a cold but three days without a word from the ultimate magician? it just didn’t feel right.

the boxer didn’t say anything else in regards to that and chose to join iroha and nikkei on the table. 

“this is what we’ve done so far?” hajime said to no one in particular, smiling to himself, “it looks good.” the painter returned his smile, removing her hands from her hair - it was an unconscious habit the painter had whenever she felt uneasy, they’d all realised, but she was definitely calmer at the praise. 

“mhm, adding rooms was a good idea.” nikkei agreed, “we’re...doing okay.” 

the three of them got back to work, albeit mostly in silence. mikado hadn’t been in for a few days and that was odd enough in itself, but emma’s sudden disappearance made things even more awkward. it wasn’t as if hajime, nikkei and iroha didn’t get along well but it felt rather depressing to not the whole group...especially with how well they were doing on planning the stall.

the atmosphere the three of them had been left with was undeniably unsettling.

it was a minute or so later when the classroom door opened up again; a mess of blonde hair poked their head around the door.

“sorry i’m late…” 

the trio dropped what they were doing, eyes collectively going to the door. emma was thankfully here (albeit ten minutes late) though...something was definitely off. hajime exchanged a worried look with the ultimate painter, hopping off the table to usher the actress onto a chair. the blonde appeared more exhausted and rather out of it than anything, a pile of school books cradled in her arms. 

“these are for mikado.” she finally spoke, still seemingly deep in thought, “sensei told me to give them to him when i see him.” the task sounded simple enough, although the other student body members knew there had to be much more to emma’s sullen attitude. 

nikkei let out a sigh, “but he isn’t here today.” 

“he isn’t.” the actress parroted. nikkei frowned, sharing a look of sympathy that was only noticed by hajime. emma didn’t say anything further, eyes trained onto the books in her hands. hajime couldn’t recall ever seeing the blonde so despondent so there clearly had to be more to this.

clasping her hands together, iroha chimed in, “w-well, maybe he’s just sick still? after all, you can’t do magic when you feel under the weather!” the painter chanced a laugh at the end of her sentence, but a part of her optimism seemed forced. iroha wasn’t good at pretending at all.

“it’s just…” emma started up, glancing up at her fellow student body members, “sensei said that he tried phoning home earlier but...they hung up on him.” that pulled hajime out of his thoughts, something sickly settling in the pit of his stomach. that...was weird - even iroha looked out of her depth at that revelation. 

“they just...hung up?” hajime couldn’t think of any plausible reason as to why mikado or his parents would hang up on their teacher, but that’s what emma was told.

the blonde nodded absent-mindedly, “...it’s weird.” she paused, “he hasn’t responded to our messages and now this...it’s _weird._ ”

the trio all wordlessly agreed with her. the situation in itself just seemed oddly unexplainable, even if it was coming from someone as cryptic as mikado. 

frowning, the journalist rested a hand on his cheek “you don’t think he’s just ill?” 

emma thought about it for a moment, “i don’t know. he might be...but this silence just reminds me of a lot….i feel like i _need_  to be worried.”

honestly speaking, the ultimate boxer didn’t know exactly what emma was referring too, but it was clear the actress was looking at mikado’s sudden silence as something else entirely. a part of him understood - at the core of it, maybe they didn’t know too much about mikado’s life. the magician was arguably on the same level as syobai in terms of how mysterious both were. that being said, he’d never given them any reason to be worried about him. he didn’t know what emma meant by mikado’s silence reminding her of “a lot”, but in his eyes, there wasn’t too much for them to read into. as far as hajime was aware, mikado was a perfectly competent leader and classmate who was probably just too ill to come into school or use his phone. god knows how much his illness used to limit him, so it wasn’t too far-fetched to think the magician was simply sick.

“honestly, i wouldn’t read too much into it.” hajime spoke up, “mikado’s just a mysterious guy, nothing more too it.” the ultimate boxer rested a hand reassuringly on emma’s shoulder, smiling as comfortingly as he could to her.

iroha quickly agreed, chiming in “y-yeah! don’t worry about it emma!” 

hajime looked over to nikkei who, much to his surprise, seemed rather out of it as well. the journalist was deep in thought and momentarily fiddled with the pen in his hand; slotting it back in his pocket, nikkei met hajime’s gaze. the boxer opened his mouth to voice his concerns but nikkei stopped him, giving the other boy a weak smile as if to shut him up. hajime supposed it just wasn’t his place to ask, especially with emma so distraught. 

emma paused for a moment, seemingly reflecting to herself, “yeah, i think...i think i’m just overreacting about this. he’ll probably come in tomorrow and tell us someone cast a sickness spell on him or something!” the ultimate actress put mikado’s books in her own bag before standing up, making her way to the temporarily abandoned stall sketch. 

“right! he seems like the type to die via common cold.” the ultimate painter laughed genuinely this time, brightening up at emma’s positivity.

like that, the atmosphere in the room lifted once again. iroha called everyone back over to the initial stall plan and started talking them through their progress. they already knew what they needed to add to the plan but having the painter explain things so upbeat just added the group’s motivation. emma just played that big of a part in livening everyone up, it seemed.

as the hour went on, the group continued to make pretty good progress on the plan; they’d all decided on a few more ways to incorporate everyone’s talents into the stall and made note of the ones they were still unsure of. iroha’s drawing talents added with emma and nikkei’s creativity and hajime’s common sense was a strong combination that was definitely leading them in the right direction despite everything. when the bell rang again and the four of them started to leave, the general tone was good. they all walked out of school that day positive that everything was going well in terms of their stall.

mikado not being there to see their progress so far wasn’t ideal by anyone’s standards, but they were all certain he’d be back soon. they were all excited to see what their leader would think of their plan so far.

→☆←

kibōgamine student body (5) - 10:04pm.

 **hajime** : Hey  
**hajime** : I’m going to sleep now but I just wanted to say good work today  
**hajime** : We’ve done a lot!  
**hajime** : A lot more than I thought 3 days could take us not gonna lie

 **emma** : i know right?  
**emma** : we should update the whole class gc about our progress sometime

 **iroha** : later :3c

 **hajime** : Yeah  
**hajime** : I kinda want Mikado to see it in person first too.

 **nikkei** : mhm  
**nikkei** : hoping thats soon

 **emma** : it will be!  
**emma** : @mikado gws!! :)  
**emma** : we’re all rlly excited to show you what we’ve done so far!!

 **iroha** : spoiler alert - it’s kinda epic

 **nikkei** : really epic

 **hajime** : Well, goodnight guys  
**hajime** : See you tomorrow  
**hajime** : Hopefully see you tomorrow too Mikado. :)  
**hajime** : Look after yourself please

 **emma** : good night! 

 **nikkei** : night  
**nikkei** : text us when you can @mikado  
**nikkei** : weird not having you around.

 **iroha** : get well soon! we really wanna show you our efforts  
**iroha** : and good night! c: ehe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and so it begins 
> 
> note  
> 1) those void notes you find at the end of dra play a big role in the backstories of the void kids in this au too. i don't wanna give too much away but it does give reason to why the fic is going in this direction...if that makes any sense at all


	11. part 10.5.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> allo  
> this is another filler-like chapter to make the next one make a bit more sense. :)

the weekend had come and, as per usual, hajime was working out at their local park with shinji and yuki. the three of them made it a point to go running like this at least once a week alongside their after school gym visits; hajime saw a lot of shinji and yuki every week but hey, he enjoyed their company and he loved working out like this. staying healthy was his number one priority in life, and exercising like this was rather therapeutic! 

it was still rather early in the morning so the park was considerably empty, save for other joggers and a few dog-walkers. shinji ran on ahead some time ago so, as it stood, hajime was running alongside yuki (had he slowed down a bit for the lucky student? maybe.) occasionally, hajime shot a thumbs up in the lucky student’s direction, or shouted a concerned “everything alright?!” if he started to slow down at all; yuki returned his worries with a reassuring thumbs up back to begin with, so everything seemed fine. as the duo kept up together however, hajime noticed yuki starting to slow down, expression no longer as concentrated on exercising as it usually was. 

“hey, hajime?” at the lucky student’s concerned tone, the boxer immediate came to a stop, “have you spoken to mikado recently?” yuki stopped abruptly too, holding back his tired gasps. 

a frown, “‘fraid not. he hasn’t been in school...all week now.” 

“all week…” yuki echoed, “are you guys just planning the stall without him?” 

“right now? yeah.” the response came out a lot harsher than he intended, “not like we have much of a choice though.” thankfully, the lucky student didn’t take the throwaway comment as rude, though it did bring him to frown. 

“you’re all coping, right?” he’d worded that awkwardly, and hajime was very aware the ginger has realised that too.

before the lucky student could frantically correct himself, hajime cooly responded, “yeah, we’re doing alright. we’re gettin’ loads of help from the rest of you too so things aren’t _as_  difficult.”

“it’s weird not having him always here.” yuki took a moment to think about his words, “mikado just...has a very big presence. the mood feels off without him...if that makes any sense.” the boxer definitely agreed with that. whilst he couldn’t speak on behalf of the whole class, mikado’s lack of presence during their student body meetings made things a lot more lonelier. they could function fine without their leader, but it’d be nice for him to get better asap. 

“shit’s always weird when someone’s missing though.” hajime smiled, patting yuki on the arm, “we’re just too used to each other, i s’pose.”

“that sounds about right…” yuki smiled back, although hajime could tell there was still a lot on his mind - he wouldn’t have stopped their run otherwise.

moments later, the firefighter finally caught up with the duo. shinji was in his usual high spirits, though it mellowed slightly, realising the stiff atmosphere pretty quick. 

“hey hey! you’re both takin’ breaks already?” the redhead handed them both bottles of water, smile still wary. 

“sorry about that big bro.” yuki sighed, staring down at the water bottle, “i was just asking him about mikado.” shinji’s demeanour softened as he shot the lucky student a look of sympathy. he wrapped a protective arm over yuki’s shoulder before turning his attention to hajime.

“actually bro...i was waitin’ to ask you about that.” he paused, “mikado’s gone kinda quiet online too. nothing’s happened...right?” shinji’s eyes were full of hope, although his smile faltered considerably. the firefighter aimed to always be positive and upbeat in the face of everything, but even hajime could see a part of his best bro was struggling to do that with this.

the boxer frowned, "i don't _think_  anythings happened. he was alright when we last saw him though." 

"oh, we haven't got anything to worry about then!" shinji took a swig from his water bottle, letting out a satisfied “ah” afterwards. he slung his arm back around the lucky student and grinned freely at hajime - seemed that had been enough to placate the ultimate firefighter.

whilst the firefighter was brimming with reassurance, yuki still looked unsure - "...he wasn't off to you at all?"

“not at all...is somethin’ up yuki?” 

yuki waved his hands dismissively, “no, it’s nothing. i was just wondering if there was anything more to it!” he chuckled awkwardly, enticing a louder laugh out of shinji. hajime was thankful that was all it was. yuki’s curiosity was something he definitely admired but _god_ , did the ginger worry him half to death sometimes. 

“thorough as always, hey yuki?!” the firefighter grinned, looking back at hajime, “don’t let it worry you too much bro. mikado’s just ill at the moment, right?”

the boxer took a sip from his bottle before nodding, “yeah. honestly? he’ll be back before you know it.” he was rather certain of that as well. it was odd without the magician’s presence but when he made his return, it’d be like just as usual.

“y’know, if it makes you feel any better…” shinji mused aloud, “we _could_  invite mikado bro to jog with us when he gets back? it’d get him _right_  into shape! in fact, the others could do with a bit of work out...” the firefighter’s eyes gleamed at the thought.

with a groan, yuki added, “more people to feel my pain...nice.” hajime snorted at that. the lucky student enjoyed their work-outs really. he was starting to find it a lot easier to keep up with his and shinji’s pace nowadays.

“all this talk about inviting more people to run with us…” shinji tutted, putting his hands on his hips, “we’re just here slackin’ off!” 

“ah, sorry about that bro. i _did_  start this whole conversation off.” 

hajime laughed, putting his bottle aside, “don’t worry about it kiddo. anyways, i’m ready to run again if you two are!” 

“bring it on bro!” shinji had discarded his bottle in seconds before taking off again. yuki let out a sigh and an almost exhausted smile in the boxer’s direction - he joined the firefighter on the park’s path, leaving hajime briefly alone. 

reflecting on their conversation, maybe it would be nice to invite some of the other guys on their runs with them. syobai would probably laugh at the thought, but the others might agree: yuri tolerated shinji enough and hajme had definitely gotten a lot closer to nikkei since joining the student body. the journalist’s walls, if he could even call them that, had broken down significantly. as for mikado...he’d have to pitch the idea to him when he came back to school. working out regularly definitely decreased the risk of falling as ill as the magician was now. maybe some of the girls would agree easier- wait, he couldn’t see shinji or yuki running in the distance anymore. just how long had he been standing here for??

on that note, the boxer followed on with his friends, running without worry or fear. hajime left free.

→☆←

[iroha nijiue → hajime makunouchi]

 **iroha** : hajime :3

 **hajime** : Hey Iroha  
**hajime** : You alright? What’s up

 **iroha** : i drew a lil more of the plan earlier  
**iroha** : i thought we could have a space themed room for yuri  
**iroha** : but also combine it with mikado’s  
**iroha** : like magic in space!

 **hajime** : HEY that sounds really cool!

 **iroha** : mario galaxy changed me

 **hajime** : Nice to hear the gamer in you is still thriving

 **iroha** : always :)  
**iroha** : speaking of mikado :c  
**iroha** : i tried to message him but he isn’t receiving them

 **hajime** : Yeah, I think we’re all having that issue  
**hajime** : Shinji and Yuki told me their gc messages weren’t going through to him either

 **iroha** : weird…  
**iroha** : just how ill is he??

 **hajime** : Hopefully not too ill  
**hajime** : I wouldn’t wish that on anyone...shit sucks terribly

 **iroha** : :C  
**iroha** : emma’s been _really_  worried too  
**iroha** : much more than all of us  
**iroha** : i wonder why

 **hajime** : It’s natural instinct to think the worst  
**hajime** : Mikado _will_  show up soon enough.  
**hajime** : Emma knows that.

 **iroha** : yeah…  
**iroha** : i’m just staying postive <3 :D  
**iroha** : he’ll be back tomorrow  
**iroha** : he’ll see our current plan and be really proud!!

 **hajime** : Hopefully :)  
**hajime** : You should forward your idea to the whole class chat 

 **iroha** : oh yeah  
**iroha** : i’ll do that now :3   
**iroha** : back me up?

 **hajime** : Of course 

  
→☆←

[nikkei yomiuri → mikado sannoji]

 **nikkei** : hey   
**nikkei** : the stall plan is looking p good already you know  
**nikkei** : the chat’s still blowing up abt it  
**nikkei** : its weird not having you around, leader idiot  
**nikkei** : im not sure whats up w you or where you are  
**nikkei** : but everyone misses your presence  
**nikkei** : your social media’s gone silent too  
**nikkei** : i get it sometimes. wanting to disappear completely  
**nikkei** : tried it a bunch of times too  
**nikkei** : the feeling never lasts n in the end, your friends just end up really fuckin worried about you  
**nikkei** : i dont know what you’re going through or whats up  
**nikkei** : believe me, the journalist in me has been looking all _over_  for some kind of lead  
**nikkei** : hope to hear from you soon tho  
**nikkei** : cya.


	12. part 11.

pushing open the clubroom door, hajime found himself immediately sighing. iroha was sitting on one of the desks, heavily engrossed in designing their festival stall. emma and nikkei were both sat by the windowsill, the pair of them somewhat distracted by something on their phones.

still no sign of mikado.

“oh, it’s just you guys…” he mumbled to no one in particular.

“hey!” iroha glared at him (read: glare as not intimidating in the least), finally putting down her sketching pencils, “what do you mean by that?!”

he immediately felt bad now, with nikkei and emma’s attention now on him, “sorry. i just thought mikado would’ve maybe...shown up or something.” hajime moved over to sit with the ultimate actress and journalist. the painter joined them moments later, expression of annoyance and anger now one of understanding.

“...has he reached out to any of you?” emma asked, biting the nail of her thumb. the response was three sombre ‘nos.’

“he hasn’t been in for _days_  now.” the ultimate painter muttered, “i don’t think he’s messaged anyone else in our class either.” that scared them. sure, mikado was arguably closest to the student body members, they’d at least hoped he’d messaged one of their other concerned friends. hajime knew for a fact that it wasn’t just the four of them that were growing increasingly concerned about mikado’s disappearance - sora and shinji had already asked him quite a few times about the ultimate magician, and he’d even overheard syobai mutter an almost inaudible “he’s not here _again_ , huh” the other day.

an uncomfortable silence swept through the four friends.

“...do you think he’ll be back in time for the school festival?” twirling one of her ringlets in her right hand, emma was still trying to remain somewhat hopeful, “he did say he wanted to help out as much as he could after all, as our…” she trailed off awkwardly, but the unspoken words were clear as day to the others.

_our leader._

“i hope so.” hajime offered up a weak smile, though he doubted he was convincing anyone.

“...nikkei?” the ultimate journalist kept his eyes trained on his phone, making no acknowledgement of iroha’s question, “y-you haven’t said anything…” emma and hajime turned their attention to their fellow member, shooting him looks of concern. truthfully, they all recognised that dealing with emotions wasn’t nikkei’s strong suit, but with the sudden disappearance of one of their friends...they really needed to be transparent with each other.

“we should keep planning the festival.” the black haired boy finally spoke, putting his phone down, “it’s what he’d want.” as much as they knew their friend was right, that only made their unease grow. were any of them really in any position to keep planning the festival? without mikado accounted for, would any of it really matter?

wordlessly, nikkei got up and made his way to iroha’s forgotten plan. as the trio moved over and joined him, nobody said a word. it didn’t feel right to try and repress that anxiety they were all feeling in some way or another. the thought of feigning happiness brought on a sick feeling in their stomachs that they chose not to chance.

iroha picked up her pencils again and, with quiet directions from hajime, began to draw. emma brought up one of her hands to rest on nikkei’s shoulders, nonvocally assuring him that they were all here for each other; the journalist didn’t react, continuing to stare down at iroha’s sketch.

for the remaining hour, little to nothing was said between the four present student body members. they’d completed a rough outline of their class’ festival stall without much enthusiasm or faith in its design. everything they did just seemed to pale in comparison to their worries over their leader who, really, should’ve been here to give everything the okay.

**_mikado...just where are you?_ **

 

  
→☆←

mikado sannoji → nikkei yomiuri - 12:01am.

 **mikado** : H  
**mikado** : nik  
**mikado** : i  
**mikado** : ineed your help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! long time no see i think. coursework doesn't give me a lot of time to write :(
> 
> this chapter is short, but i added this to a series...sometime soon i'll post something to it before the next chapter since it links heavily into the whole mikado situation ehe
> 
> bye bye <3


	13. part 12.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it gets worse before it gets better.
> 
> big tw for this chapter ; implied child abuse + panic attack(?) state

class 79 gang™ [15] - 12:58am.

**nikkei** : hhey  
**nikkei** : guys  
**nikkei** : is anyone  
**nikkei** : fck  
**nikkei** : anyone awake please plese

**hajime** : Nikkei?

**sora** : what's up?

**syobai** : you fucking woke me up  
**syobai** : this better be good yomiuri.

**iroha** : i put down ultimate, hi!

**yuri** : Привет classmates!  
**yuri** : what is the issue nikkei?

**kanade** : hm?  
**kanade** : why do you want us all awake at this time? ♪

**hibiki** : yeah!  
**hibiki** : i'm tired you know?! ♬

**setsuka** : u sound desperate...  
**setsuka** : what's going on, kei?

**nikkei** : its  
**nikkei** : im w mikado rn

**emma** : you found him??

**yoruko** : oh thank god  
**yoruko** : it's been days

**yuki** : is he okay?  
**yuki** : are _you_  okay?

**nikkei** : idk  
**nikkei** : nnot really

**emma** : nikkei?

**shinji** : hey  
**shinji** : you needa breathe nikkei

**iroha** : :<

**sora** : where are you both, first of all?

**nikkei** : a  
**nikkei** : alleyway

**hajime** : An alleyway?

**yuri** : huh

**syobai** : now why the fuck are you there

**setsuka** : kei?

**nikkei** : he  
**nikkei** : m sorry giv me a secnd

**iroha** : i'm worried  
**iroha** : he's never spoken like  
**iroha** : _this_

**yuki** : :s  
**yuki** : it's been ages since mikado came to school too

**kokoro** : Where did Nikkei go?

**emma** : oh, kokoro's here  
**emma** : we don't know

**sora** : has he stopped responding?

**hajime** : Seems like it...

**hibiki** : oh no ♬

**nikkei** : im here  
**nikkei** : hes hurt

**yuri** : ?

**shinji** : mikado is hurt

**yuri** : o блядь  
**yuri** : how

**kokoro** : How is he hurt?  
**kokoro** : I understand this must be stressful for you Nikkei, but if this is as serious as you're making it sound then we _need_  to be quick about this.

**iroha** : that's a longass text for a 1am message

**nikkei** : he got beaten up

**emma** : .  
**emma** : beaten up?

**syobai** : who tf would..

**nikkei** : im sry

**sora** : you're doing well, dw.

**kanade** : is he beaten up badly?

**yoruko** : that's your next question?

**kanade** : it's important.  
**kanade** : nikkei should be calling an ambulance really.

**nikkei** : NO  
**nikkei** : srry im not  
**nikkei** : doin

**shinji** : he's not calling for help

**kanade** : so either it can't be as bad as we all think it is,  
**kanade** : or there's some other reason why you refuse to seek help.

**kokoro** :  
**kokoro** : I presume it's the latter.

**kanade** : i agree.

**setsuka** : what alleyway are you two in?

**nikkei** : uh  
**nikkei** : i dnt

**sora** : what can you see?  
**sora** : building wise.

**yuki** : if you see a street name or something too, that'd help us a lot

**nikkei** : theres  
**nikkei** : ill sendphoto

[ɴɪᴋᴋᴇɪ ʏᴏᴍɪᴜʀɪ sᴇɴᴛ ᴀɴ ɪᴍᴀɢᴇ]

**hibiki** : OH!  
**hibiki** : that's downtown, isn't it?

**yuri** : downtown?

**kanade** : we did a concert around there a month ago  
**kanade** : it's near shirinyoku mall.

**sora** : alright  
**sora** : can you call anyone to get you both?

**yoruko** : are mikado's parents not worried?  
**yoruko** : hell, are _your_  parents not worried nikkei?

**nikkei** : uh

**kokoro** : ...  
**kokoro** : Mikado's parents did this to him, correct?  
**kokoro** : We aren't calling them.

**shinji** : hold on, what?

**kokoro** : From what I know, I doubt Nikkei's family would be too happy to hear about this either.

**yuki** : how did you just...assume that?

**kokoro** : No.  
**kokoro** : Some things are obvious when you know the signs, regardless of your ultimate talent.  
**kokoro** : Though, it was more me suspecting something was wrong rather than knowing for certain this time.

**iroha** : oh

**sora** : you two can stay with us  
**sora** : tsurugi is a police officer too so he's very well equiped with this

**yuki** : a very lovely one too

**sora** : i'll update them on the situation  
**sora** : nikkei, we'll be there soon  
**sora** : i promise.

**iroha** : is mikado awake?  
**iroha** : you said he got beaten up  
**iroha** : but like nothing else

**nikkei** : hes driftin in and out

**hibiki** : of consciousness??

**syobai** : i know its up to sora's parents whether you go to hosp or what  
**syobai** : but you really should

**shinji** : you know it's serious if syobai is telling you ta get help

**syobai** : its common knowledge fucko  
**syobai** : but i mean it. seriously

**emma** : who is sora going to get?

**yuki** : her dads?

**yoruko** : tsurugi san and kisaragi san  
**yoruko** : they're really nice @nikkei so you can relax a bit  
**yoruko** : i think they're used to seeing stuff like this

**setsuka** :  
**setsuka** : i hope they're ok  
**setsuka** : mi already worries me

**shinji** : let's stay positive about this  
**shinji** : it's really bad but they're getting help  
**shinji** : we've done what we can :)  
**shinji** : now all we can do is trust in sora and her family

**hibiki** : i hope so...

**emma** : nobody's said anything else in a while

**kokoro** : It'll be alright, Emma.  
**kokoro** : Trust in Sora.

**sora** : hey.  
**sora** : we're taking them back to ours now.

**hajime** : Are they alright?

**sora** : honestly speaking, no.  
**sora** : i'll update you in the morning  
**sora** : i didn't realise the severity of the situation until we arrived.  
**sora** : good night, everyone

**yuki** : good night...  
**yuki** : is it ok to just leave things like this?

**hajime** : I don't think we have a choice

**yuri** : sora chan didn't make it any easier for us  
**yuri** : i daresay i am very concern

**emma** : mhm.  
**emma** : i'm going back to bed  
**emma** : night.

**yuki** : gn

**kanade** : good night ♪  
**kanade** : i wouldn't be too worried.

**hibiki** : how can you say that sis???

**kanade** : they're both safe, right?  
**kanade** : personally, i think we can rest easier with that in mind.  
**kanade** : that's just my take on it though.

**shinji** : kanades right  
**shinji** : all we can do is try and stay positive about this all  
**shinji** : good night everyone  
**shinji** : it's been a late night but let's rise with confidence tomorrow!

**syobai** : he never lets up does he

**yoruko** : you can say that again.   
**yoruko** : i think i'll go too  
**yoruko** : night everyone <3

**hajime** : Goodnight  
**hajime** : Suppose we'll all be talking in the morning about this

**setsuka** : definitely  
**setsuka** : for now, sleep well guys  
**setsuka** : big sis loves you all <33

**hibiki** : we love you too big sis  
**hibiki** : kana is already gone but she says good night too

**yuri** : Спокойной ночи ladies :-)  
**yuri** : also to you tolerable men

**syobai** : n

iroha: goodnight then  
**iroha** : big goodnight to nikkei, mikado and sora  
**iroha** : see you in the morning :3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is actually one of the earliest chapters i wrote for this fic; mikado's void note really intrigues me and what it implies for his past as a character which led to this. with that though, i also wanted to convey the bond class 79 have and how they do care about each other a lot, though i'll probably expand on that a lot more in later chapters or in other parts of home
> 
> the tw for this chapter will only pop up in 1 more chapter on this scale 
> 
> cya :)


	14. part 13.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw ; references to abuse

class 79 gang™ [15] - 9:44am.

**yuri** : morning classmates

**setsuka** : mornin yu x  
**setsuka** : how are you all holdin up?

**yoruko** : i couldn’t sleep at all  
**yoruko** : last night was  
**yoruko** : god....

**hajime** : Suppose we all feel the same about that

**hibiki** : yeah…  
**hibiki** : i barely slept a wink   
**hibiki** : kana had to console me a lot

**yuki** : yeah…  
**yuki** : the gravity of the situations only just started to hit me so its   
**yuki** : its not good  
**yuki** : i guess we have to wait for sora to get back to us?

**hibiki** : her last message was rlly  
**hibiki** : scary...yknow?  
**hibiki** : i cant stop thinking about what she meant by it

**shinji** : DONT FRET   
**shinji** : the situation seems really bad  
**shinji** : BUT all we can do is hope for the best!

**kanade** : i wouldn’t say it like that but shinji’s right  
**kanade** : no point fretting over shit we don’t know the full story for

**yoruko** : how can you say that?

**kanade** : the more we worry about it, the more stressed it’ll make us   
**kanade** : who is that going to help?  
**kanade** : not sora. not nikkei.  
**kanade** : certainly not mikado.

**yuri** : i do understand what the ledi is saying  
**yuri** : but you must admit that we cant help but stress  
**yuri** : i know you well enough my ledi that you also did not sleep well

**kanade** : i’m not trying to be cold  
**kanade** : but my point still stands.

**yuki** : we know enough  
**yuki** : enough to make me feel ill  
**yuki** : scuse m for a min

**setsuka** : oh yuu x :(

**emma** : hey.

**setsuka** : hiya em x

**emma** : nobody else got much sleep either  
**emma** : huh

**hajime** : Given the situation...yeah  
**hajime** : I don’t want to speculate anything but do you think they’ll be ok?

**shinji** : mikado bro and nikkei?

**setsuka** : nik hasnt been back on since last night :/

**yuri** : i do wonder why mikado reached out to nikkei first  
**yuri** : he isnt exactly the model man, no?

**kanade** : i’ve been wondering the same thing.

**yuki** : yeah,,

**yoruko** : are you alright @yuki ?  
**yoruko** : given your last message 

**yuki** : idk  
**yuki** : for now, i think everythings out  
**yuki** : i didnt realise mikado and nikkei were so  
**yuki** : close?  
**yuki** : idk  
**yuki** : i never noticed

**emma** : we didn’t notice much, did we.

**hibiki** : dont speak like that em

**yoruko** : maybe they are just really close  
**yoruko** : mikado and nikkei are both rather private people

**yuri** : they are both in safe hands

**iroha** : its really horrible still

**hibiki** : roro...

**hajime** : Iroha  
**hajime** : You’re awake

**iroha** : i am  
**iroha** : i didn’t really sleep at all  
**iroha** : i’m not used to feeling like that ever…   
**iroha** : has sora not said anything yet? 

**yuki** : not yet 

**hibiki** : no 

**iroha** : agh

**setsuka** : i’m just going to ask,  
**setsuka** : are you all ok? x

**syobai** : what do u think

**iroha** : syobai

**emma** : you’re here too.

**setsuka** : it is a bit of a pointless q, isn’t it  
**setsuka** : generally though.  
**setsuka** : it’d make big sis a lot more calmer knowin the rest of yall are safe and ok <3

**shinji** : thank u for caring setsuka  
**shinji** : truthfully im actually really worried but im tryin to stay positive  
**shinji** : lets do our best not to jump to conclusions!!!

**yuri** : i too am shaken up  
**yuri** : men are not often the apple of my thoughts but i am allowing it this time  
**yuri** : i’m really worried  
**yuri** : but i want to hope for the best, dearest ledi

**hibiki** : ,,i’m really worried for mi and kei  
**hibiki** : so much i didnt really sleep

**yuki** : yeah  
**yuki** : i hate overthinking things but that’s the current mood   
**yuki** : i  
**yuki** : im sorry but i feel so /guilty/ about not realising  
**yuki** : 

**yoruko** : don’t beat yourself up over it yuki  
**yoruko** : to be honest  
**yoruko** : i feel guilty about it too

**hajime** :  
**hajime** : We all feel somewhat responsible for not noticing

**kanade** : that’s a given   
**kanade** : unfortunately, anyway.  
**kanade** : mikado is a closed off person  
**kanade** : and abuse is a closed off thing

**yuri** : to all feel so useless like this  
**yuri** : how stressful

**kanade** : blaming yourself won’t help anything  
**kanade** : neither will making yourself feel ill 

**yuki** : yeah…

**setsuka** : you’re right though kana  
**setsuka** : i hope you’re okay too x

**kanade** : i’m alright, thanks  
**kanade** : i’m not going to pretend i’m not worried  
**kanade** : but mikado and nikkei are both with sora. that’s enough for me.

**iroha** : sora _did_  end off really scarily yesterday  
**iroha** : of course we’re worried  
**iroha** : even syobai showed back up :(

**syobai** : more annoyed than worried but alright.

**yoruko** : annoyed?

**hajime** : I’ll never understand you Syobai...

**setsuka** : regardless, its nice to know you’re safe syo x

**syobai** : thx.

**setsuka** : em?

**emma** :   
**emma** : s fine  
**emma** : just didnt get much sleep

**kokoro** : Doesn’t sound fine.

**setsuka** : not at all :/  
**setsuka** : you gonna be safe em?

**emma** : yh  
**emma** : ill be fine

**setsuka** : alright  
**setsuka** : if anything changes, i’ll happily drop by okay? x

**emma** : ok

**shinji** : you should rest  
**shinji** : everything is high stress right now but!!  
**shinji** : sora will contact us soon with good news!

**yoruko** : yeah...

**yuri** : how soon is soon i wonder

**iroha** : hopefully _soon_  ...

**sora** : oh, you’re all here.

**hibiki** : SOSIE!

**setsuka** : rara x :)  
**setsuka** : it’s nice to see you 

**emma** : are they ok  
**emma** : pleas just tell us sora

**yoruko** :  
**yoruko** : sora?

**yuri** : dearest sora please respond

**sora** : it’s complicated.  
**sora** : i mean,  
**sora** : they’re safe  
**sora** : nikkei’s safe  
**sora** : mikado’s safe

**shinji** : thats good!

**hajime** : What do you mean by complicated?  
**hajime** : Sora, please.

**kanade** : they’re safe, but not ok.  
**kanade** : right?  
**kanade** : that’s why it’s complicated

**iroha** : oh

**setsuka** : oh sora :(

**sora** : something like that, yeah  
**sora** : i’ll get back to you all later

**yoruko** : later?

**hibiki** : why later???

**sora** : i’m sorry  
**sora** : i do really need to go though  
**sora** : i don’t want to lie to you, so the most i can really say is that they’re both safe.

**iroha** : thats okay, i guess  
**iroha** : its nice just hearing from you!

**kanade** : is it?

**setsuka** : oi, kana

**kanade** : sorry

**syobai** : not much of a response tho is it.  
**syobai** : i get safety n shit 

**yuki** : but they’re not  
**yuki** : _okay_  
**yuki** : ah  
**yuki** : i feel ill again

**shinji** : its something  
**shinji** : complicated doesnt mean completely bad

**emma** : m

**hibiki** : sosie didnt mean to worry us all any more

**kokoro** : But she has.

**yuri** : yes..  
**yuri** : this feels like another waiting game

**iroha** : ,probably

→☆←

hajime put down his phone, proceeding to flop back on his bed. 

no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop thinking about mikado’s situation. it was somewhat reassuring to know that the magician was safe with sora’s family...although that seemed like a small victory when thinking about what he might’ve been through before. what kokoro had said last night weighed on his mind significantly - _”mikado’s parents did this to him.”_  what they had done specifically? he had no idea. knowing mikado was in such a traumatic state because of them was enough to make hajime feel sick though. 

he had to be rational about this, it was what he normally did best...but the thoughts couldn’t stop overflowing in his mind.

all of those days the magician hadn’t come into school

all of those days their messages to the chat went unread

all of the days their leader was dead to the world

what he could’ve been going through all that time...the boxer repressed the urge to cry. 

he sighed to himself, covering his eyes with his arm. there was no point in going to the gym today; he wasn’t up for it and he doubted shinji would be either. really, all he wanted to do was lie down and drift off.

he hated lying in his bed like this with nothing but his thoughts. the boxer spent a childhood restricted to doing only that. right now though, the bed was his comfort. 

the buzzing of his phone reluctantly brought hajime out of his thoughts. he’d temporarily muted the group chat, right? maybe it was shinji or yuki checking in on him then. he glanced at his phone on his bedside. if it was from them, what would he tell them? hajime didn’t have the will to work out today - shinji would understand that, but he knew the firefighter and luckster would continue to fret over him; that was the type of people they both were. his phone remained unmoving. 

it buzzed again, almost impatiently. 

hajime picked it back up, mentally going through all the ways he could maybe prevent shinji or yuki being too worried about him -

the message wasn’t from either of them. hajime’s concern amped up seeing just who the notification was from.

→☆←

[ _sora kisaragi has sent you a private message - OPEN?_ ]

**[YES]**                 [NO]

↓↓↓

**sora** : hajime  
**sora** : where are you right now?

**hajime** : I’m in my house?  
**hajime** : What’s going on  
**hajime** : Are you alright??

**sora** : are you able to come to my house?

**hajime** :   
**hajime** : What

**sora** : mikado wants to see you.  
**sora** : he wants to see you, emma and iroha specifically  
**sora** : but i figured you were best to pass the message on

**hajime** : Oh  
**hajime** : Right now?

**sora** : ideally any time today  
**sora** : it’s short notice, but you understand why.

**hajime** : yeah  
**hajime** : Yeah  
hajime: Of course

**sora** : ...

**hajime** :  
**hajime** : Yeah, I should be able to come over.  
**hajime** : I’ll have a word with Iroha and Emma now

**sora** : ok  
**sora** : i’ll forward you my address in a bit  
**sora** : make your way whenever. 

**hajime** : I  
**hajime** : I really feel like I should be asking you more  
**hajime** : Are they alright…?

**sora** : he’s doing better  
**sora** : nikkei is okay   
**sora** : shaken up, but okay

**hajime** : Ok.  
**hajime** : Thank you Sora  
**hajime** : I’ll go and speak to the others now

**sora** : np  
**sora** : just  
**sora** : be yourselves. he needs normality right now  
**sora** : see you later. 

[ _sora kisaragi has sent you a location_ ]

→☆←

kibōgamine student body [5] - 10:21am.

**hajime** : Hey.  
**hajime** : Can I talk to you guys for a minute?

**iroha** :   
**iroha** : i mean  
**iroha** : it’s only the three of us ;;

**hajime** : I know that  
**hajime** : Is Emma here?

**emma** : yes.

**iroha** : what is it?  
**iroha** : is everything ok? :<

**hajime** : Sora texted me.  
**hajime** : Are you two busy today?

**iroha** : ,,  
**iroha** : ye  
**iroha** : why  
**iroha** : whats going on

**hajime** : Emma?

**emma** : i wouldn’t be doing anything even if i wanted too.  
**emma** : if this is about the stall, now really isn’t the time

**hajime** : It’s not about that  
**hajime** : Mikado wants to see us.  
**hajime** : ASAP, preferably

**emma** :

**iroha** : huh  
**iroha** : wait  
**iroha** : did sora tell you that?????

**hajime** : Yeah.  
**hajime** : She sent me her address too  
**hajime** : Mikado really wants to see us three.

**emma** : us?

**hajime** : Us three specifically  
**hajime** : Yeah.

**iroha** : whaaat  
**iroha** : i mean  
**iroha** : i _really_  want to see mikado and nikkei  
**iroha** : did not expect like this though,,

**emma** : d  
**emma** : you spoke to sora  
**emma** : did she tellyou how they are???

**hajime** : They’re both doing better than they were yesterday...according to Sora.

**iroha** : ah  
**iroha** : thank goodness i think

**emma** : oh

**hajime** : Emma?  
**hajime** : You alright?

**emma** : i’m fine  
**emma** : its  
**emma** : its just been a difficult night.

**hajime** : I understand 

**emma** : i want to see them both 

**iroha** : are you sure?  
**iroha** : not in a mean way or anything  
**iroha** : but you seem _really_  out of it emma ;;

**hajime** : You don’t need to force yourself  
**hajime** : Sora did say anytime

**emma** : no, its fine  
**emma** : itd give me peace of mind  
**emma** : so yes  
**emma** : today is,, fine.

**iroha** : i guess its settled then  
**iroha** : we’re still the student council group  
**iroha** : i think  
**iroha** : i think we gotta stick together no matter how tough things get!  
**iroha** : what about you hajime?

**hajime** : I’m up for it whenever you two are. 

**emma** : now  
**emma** : if you two arent busy  
**emma** : just

**iroha** : yeah  
**iroha** : we could go now  
**iroha** : i dont mind

**hajime** : Alright then  
**hajime** : I’ll meet you both outside of the station in half an hour?

**emma** : k

**iroha** : oke  
**iroha** : see you all soon  
**iroha** : _all_  of you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a lil note
> 
> 1) kanade isn't heartless in this au. she chooses to rationalise the situation, but in such a way that she does seem kinda cruel. sora's behaviour in this chapter is also pretty ooc in regards to how she acts in the au, but that's due to her actually being kinda...in on mikado's situation now and too stressed to realise the gravity of her words.
> 
> next chapter is tw and length heavy. cya :)


	15. part 14.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> probably the longest chapter and the heaviest. 
> 
> tw ; child abuse discussed in detail, brief mentions of alcohol abuse and neglect

hajime hadn’t ever been to sora’s house before - he didn’t think any of them had. 

ever since the three of them had met at the station, there hadn’t been much in the way of them talking. hajime tried to fill the quiet a few times but in the end, it seemed useless. they were all tired…in all sense of the word. iroha originally chimed in with her curious questions of “did he say why he wanted _us?_ ” and “do you think he’s okay?” but after that: an uncomfortable silence ensued. emma hadn’t said anything. the actress kept her head down, refusing to let hajime or iroha get a good look at her. he couldn’t blame her, really. 

sora lived far out. the walk was long. 

the silence didn’t get any more bearable. 

nobody had the courage to knock but they didn’t have to. moments after they got to the front door, sora had opened it herself. the ultimate potential looked a stark contrast to her usual collected self - she’d clearly not had much sleep. 

“hey.” she opened the door wider, “come in. just...don’t make a big scene.” wordlessly, the three followed behind her. the inside of the house was just as homely as the outside, with various photos and medals hung up on the walls. it was funny, hajime thought, that a place so welcoming felt completely jarring considering the current situation. 

a small cough from the ultimate painter, “i-is...is it _really_  okay for us to be here?” the brunette pulled on her hair, discomfort clear as day. 

“he wanted you guys here.” sora offered a sympathetic frown, “the student council is...very important to mikado. same with nikkei.” from beside him, hajime watched the ultimate actress push back tears. truthfully, he forced himself to suppress his anger and tears too. they didn’t know the full story yet but as it stood, knowing that despite doing so much for them and the student council, they couldn’t be there for mikado when he needed it most...it hurt. it hurt so terribly much.

there was a moment of silence as the boxer gave iroha a reassuring pat on the shoulder. sora turned and began leading them into the living room. an uncomfortable and unknowing awkwardness followed.

the living room was even more sickeningly comfortable. hajime’s eyes followed the several professional-looking certificates framed upon the wall, down to the lit fireplace that, really, almost made him feel worse. the three of them stopped scanning around the room, all locking eyes with their leader for the first time in a while. 

sitting on the sofa was indeed their leader, mikado sannoji. 

hajime wanted to smile, hug the magician and tell him how much he missed him. he wanted to cry, sob about how worried he was, how worried they /all/ were about him. he wanted to scream, shout about how shitty the world had been to him and how shitty they were for not noticing a thing.

instead, he just stood in shock, staring at mikado.

“hello _gang._ ” mikado broke the silence, waving weakly at the trio, “it has been quite a while.” the first thing they noticed was the _bruises_  - the ultimate magician was covered in them. the black eye he had looked a few days old but definitely hadn’t been dealt softly. the bruise on his left cheek was particularly bad, with it still a strong purple hue. hajime knew from boxing experience that something that refused to heal that bad needed serious help. just how long had he had it for?

it was after that observation that he took in the magician’s clothes. he hadn’t seen the blonde outside of school, granted, but it was obvious whatever he had on didn’t belong to him. the pyjamas were much too vibrant and big - they were probably hand-me downs from sora’s parents. to the side of mikado, however, sat a small pile of what he presumed were mikado’s actual school clothes...or what was left of them. the shirt on top looked somewhat torn and dirty, maybe from when nikkei found him outside before. 

“m-mikado!” iroha was first to respond, unable to contain her tears, “you’re...y-you’re okay!” okay was a massive overstatement they all had to admit, but the magician wasn’t perturbed. 

“i’ve seen better days.”  he smiled, “but i’m okay now, thanks to you all.” 

there was a momentary silence once again. tears poured down iroha’s cheeks, although she was still gazing at mikado curiously; she wiped them away with her sleeve moments after. emma, on the other hand, only seemed to look at the magician for a second before having to avert her eyes. she looked uncomfortable, though on a level much different from the boxer and the painter.

“...is nikkei still here?” hajime asked. the journalist’s lack of presence added even more worry to the situation, especially considering how he was last night and kokoro’s...ominously vague comments. 

“he is.” the magician’s response was curt, although he kept smiling. 

as if on cue, one of the doors in the room opened and nikkei entered. just like sora, nikkei looked equally as exhausted and sleep deprived. whatever he was wearing definitely didn’t belong to him or fit him very well - he looked so vulnerable like this. the journalist didn’t look physically hurt at first glance, but that didn’t feel like solace to any of them right now.

a much older man appeared from behind the journalist, leading him gently back into the living room. he couldn’t see what the man was telling nikkei but he seemed to be taking it in. moments later, the journalist finally looked up and registered that yes, they were also here. 

“well..we better leave you kids to it.” the man said, moving to sora’s side, “come on poppet.” it registered then that the man was sora’s father and former ultimate inventor kisaragi yamato. he had a calming aura that, no doubt, was used to make nikkei and mikado feel...well, as better as they could be. father and daughter left the room seconds later, leaving the student council members of class 79 alone. 

you’d think that with the severity of the situation and the fact the five of them hadn’t been in a room together for over a week now, the questions and comments would’ve overflowed. 

no one said a thing. awkward glances were shared between the five of them but nobody could find the right words to start with. 

emma broke the silence - “it isn’t your fault.” the actress was managing to look up at both mikado and nikkei now, albeit shakily. “whatever happened here....it isn’t your fault.” there was steadfast determination in her voice despite her clear vulnerability; hajime hadn’t seen emma in such an unguarded state since that day in their student body meeting. her sudden words came as a shock to everyone, namely its intended targets.

“thank you emma chan.” mikado smile had dropped for a moment, but it was back in seconds, “i think i needed to hear that. we _both_  did.” the journalist frowned at the indirect but didn’t contest it.

“u-um…” the painter fiddled with the hem of her skirt, “d-do...do you wanna talk about it?” _it._  the atmosphere grew sullen. iroha couldn’t bring herself to address what _it_  was. honestly? hajime couldn’t blame her. he didn’t think any of them truly wanted to think about what had been happening with the magician.

a sigh, “i do. i’d advise you all to sit down because...it’s quite a heavy tale.” emma complied instantly, sitting on the floor without a word. nikkei and hajime shared a look but did the same (it was a look hajime was thankful to see again), making iroha last to place herself down. 

“oh, you’ve all left me alone on the sofa.” mikado laughed emptily, “should i move too?”

“don’t.” for the first time since they’d all arrived, nikkei spoke, “moving around could injure you more.” despite the sternness and concern in his voice, it was clear that nikkei was exhausted too. there was almost a croak in his tone that could only come about from a night of crying. 

mikado seemed to think about it for a moment before letting out another sigh - this time, one of shallow acceptance. “i’ll stay up here then, nikkei chan.” 

“truthfully, i don’t think i can just _talk_  at you all.” mikado looked down, protectively tightening his grip on the cape, “it’d be easier for you to just… _ask me_  whatever you’re wondering. that seems much less stressful.”

“ _ask_  you?” iroha gave him a look of worry, “that s-sounds even _more_  stressful though?”

the magician let out a genuine chuckle, “i spent a lot of yesterday and this morning practically being interviewed by tsurugi san, so i’m rather used to it.” that placated the painter somewhat, alongside the rest of them. 

“where have you _been_  all week?” the question slipped out of hajime’s mouth without restraint. 

“at home.” the response came out bluntly, though mikado was quick to follow up, “my family didn’t allow me to leave under any circumstances and, well, that included school. sorry for not being there to help with the stall.” 

hajime folded his arms, frowning sympathetically at mikado, “hey, no need to apologize. it wasn’t like you had a choice.” 

“why wouldn’t they let you leave?” 

a beat of silence followed as the blonde seemed to be thinking to himself, “an incident happened over the weekend.” he looked like he was trying his hardest not to recall it, “the consequences were impossible to hide...as you can see.” mikado pointed to the bruise on his face and the various ones on his arms and neck. 

“shit...those  _do_  look bad.” hajime had stated it as more of an afterthought rather than just spitting out the obvious. 

“they’re worse than usual.” mikado looked back down at his hands, “i can take it most of the time.” the atmosphere in the room was already somewhat unsettling however, this revelation made the discomfort much more prominent. hajime’s gaze snapped back up to mikado in shock; everyone else had done the same, staring at the magician with such abundant worry. it’d likely crossed all of their minds that this wasn’t a single horrific event but having mikado’s vague comment confirm their worst fears...it felt horrible. kokoro had mentioned it on the group chat yesterday but nobody wanted to think that all this time, their beloved classmate was enduring something as vile as domestic abuse.

more silence followed after that. the four of them definitely had more questions following what mikado had just said, but they all waited for mikado to explain himself. it was clear that he was having some kind of inner debate with himself, for the blonde’s smile was replaced with a pained frown. the question of “what actually happened that day” was left unsaid but mikado knew it was there; they all did. the magician fiddled around with his cape for a moment and took a few deep breaths before explaining what they were all thinking.

“...home has never been...the _happiest_  place for me.” he started, refusing to look up from his cape, “i’ve lived...in fear of my life since i was a child. the bruises weren’t nearly as bad before but they were still there...nonetheless.”

unable to contain her horror, iroha cried out, “wait, that _long?!_  why didn’t you say anything?” 

“i...i didn’t know any better back then.” mikado allowed himself a solemn smile, “growing up, i wasn’t aware children weren’t _supposed_  to live in constant fear of their parents.” the painter silenced at that, her eyes filling with tears. hajime couldn’t imagine the magician’s upbringing, nor did he particularly _want_  to think about what could’ve happened; he’d personally spent his childhood in several hospitals but with his parents continuously at his side throughout it all. of course he knew not everyone were gifted with caring parents but knowing that mikado had first hand experience with such a thing just made the reality of the situation all too horrific for him. 

the magician took a moment to collect his thoughts before starting up again, “it’s funny. even now, i don’t know _why_  they’ve treated me like this. i suppose...i suppose most of what i do is just _wrong_  in their eyes and i had to be taught that.”

“...taught?” nikkei likely knew a lot more than them but right now, he was equally as disgusted and shocked as everyone else.

“yes, taught. how to act, how to speak, how to live my life. all of it was taught, or perhaps _trained_  into me. i wasn’t supposed to have much of a say in who mikado sannoji was to grow up into. they preferred me to sit back and let them have full control of well, _me_.”

he chuckled sourly, “i like to think you all know me though. i know that _i_  know me. my personality and talent actually makes me feel rather fulfilled and happy. they’ve never felt the same so...we had a bit of an altercation...that was more violent than usual.”

“the argument itself is foggy to me but as you know, i was banished to the realms of my bedroom. after a few days of nothing but well...beatings...i realised they had no intentions of letting me out any time soon. that’s why i escaped.”

mikado unconsciously looked up, recalling how he’d gotten here, “whilst my father was hurting me, i managed to snatch the key to my room from him. easy magician’s trick, really. he was too intoxicated to realise what i’d done, so i used that to my advantage.”

“sometime around midnight, i believe, i unlocked my door and snuck downstairs. with what was left of my schoolbag, i ran out the door...to wherever nikkei found me.” he shot an appreciative smile in the journalist’s direction, who looked away sheepishly.

“wait...t-they didn’t hear you leave or anything?” 

before mikado could answer, emma spoke up, “survival instincts kick in...you just learn how to walk or open anything without making sound…” the words came out as if the blonde was in some sort of trance, gaze clearly elsewhere. the actress eventually looked up to see all eyes on her - “...i-i think that’s how it is, anyway.”

“ _oh,_  emma chan is correct. i trained myself on how to move about in my household, what steps creaked and what ones didn’t...that sort of thing. if my parents heard me leaving, i wouldn’t know it. i didn’t look back.”

“you just kept running.” 

“precisely so, hajime chan. my memory is of what occured after that is hazy, though i know i texted nikkei. i’m not sure what...but i _know_  i did. i woke up in sora’s house, had a _very_  long conversation with tsurugi san...and now we’re here.” 

the way mikado explained everything, it seemed so surreal. the blonde spoke casually for the most part, only cracking when the memory became difficult to recall. honestly, it astounded hajime, seeing firsthand just how _brave_  mikado was. despite everything, here he was still trying to keep things together. the boxer had seen his fair share of physically strong people but right now, perhaps their student body leader was the strongest person he knew, mentally. 

it made him angry to think that anyone could hurt one of his friends like that, let alone a bro as awesome as mikado. it made him calmer though knowing that he was being so brave in return. hajime figured he return that energy too-

“wait.” all attention turned to nikkei who, for the most part, looked more confused than ever, “i don’t get it. why did you text _me_  of all people?!” the question had been on everyone’s minds, and rightfully so. the student body group had all gotten much closer since the start of the year, although hajime hadn’t ever considered nikkei and mikado to be the best of friends.

mikado looked away from the group in unease. 

“because you _understood..._ to some extent.” that caught everyone off guard. hajime instantly shot nikkei a look of pure concern - what the hell did mikado mean by him _understanding?_   nikkei wasn’t in the same situation...was he? the boxer didn’t think he’d be able to forgive himself if he’d missed both signs.

at everyone’s confusion and clear worry, mikado continued, “everything you said about wanting to disappear...at the time, i felt that all too well. i suppose i thought you understood the best about not being okay, so i ended up messaging you.”

the revelation caused the journalist to freeze, expression one of pure discomfort. he’d talked about wanting to _disappear??_  hajime clearly wasn’t alone in his concern, exchanging a worried look with iroha and emma. there was definitely a lot more going on with the journalist that they didn’t know about (the boxer doubted they’d find out now too) and that was unsettling, to say the least. did nikkei need help too? surely, mikado and sora knew if there was a bigger issue and he can’t have been suffering in silence anymore...but not knowing if nikkei was “alright” still made things tense. 

“...i really didn’t think _this_  is why you’d disappeared though.” 

mikado chuckled, although his stiffness seemed to match nikkei’s, “i realised that. either way, i don’t regret reaching out to you...not to offend the rest of you.” 

“none taken bro.” hajime waved his hand dismissively, managing a smile. he wasn’t sure what he would’ve done if he was in nikkei’s position, seeing mikado in that state. hajime didn’t think he could’ve acted nearly as bravely as the journalist did.

“before i forget, i am _really_  grateful you all did reach out to me when you did.” the magician reflected, “i properly read over all of your texts this morning. you’re all _very_  persistent.” 

iroha smiled sheepishly, “well, w-we were all worried, you know?”

“i suppose you were. all of class 79…” he trailed off.

mikado went back to looking at the cape still clutched tightly in his grasp. momentarily, hajime let his mind wander, watching the magician hold onto the cloth like a lifeline. he really _did_  campaign for the right to wear that thing in school heavily. seeing him so protective of it now, hajime wondered what significance it had to mikado’s life. thinking about it now, the five of them hadn’t discussed how they found about their individual talents...with everything going so horribly for mikado, when did he become a magician? hajime let his mind wander on the thought momentarily before focusing on mikado again, noticing that look of inner-conflict making its way back onto his face. 

“in the end, i think _everyone_  tried to get into contact with me.” mikado smiled sadly, “i didn’t realise so many people were concerned about me.” 

“we all consider you a dear friend.” emma deadpanned, before allowing herself a genuine smile, “of course we’d worry!” 

_”but!”_  tugging rather frustratedly at her hair, iroha sighed “i-i don’t get it...why did you want _us_  here?”

iroha’s question was innocent but it seemed as if the atmosphere dropped with her curiosity. the thought had been on the boxer’s mind (and probably emma and nikkei’s too), but likely not the magician’s. mikado visibly froze up again, although he settled rather quickly; he straightened up.

“ah, _that._ ” the magician chuckled bitterly, “it’s rather pathetic to admit...but the student body means a lot to me.”

“i’ve never been able to included in much, i suppose. most things were forbidden for me growing up and my social skills are far from the best, so my life hasn’t been as _magical_  as you’d think. the day they forced me into this little group...i was actually quite pleasantly surprised. when you chose me to be leader too, that made me...really, _really_  happy. it wasn’t so much me being in charge, but just having some sort of presence and reason made me _happy_ -

...i felt _important_  for the first time in a while. i owe a lot of that to you four...and that’s why i asked for you here.” 

the admission took them all by surprise. hajime didn’t expect that to be the reason they were asked here and, seeing their expressions, the others’ felt the same.  of course, it went without saying that the five of them were much more than just “the student body” now but hearing it like this...it meant a lot. mikado looked away awkwardly, only turning back when the painter decided to break the silence.

“w-well, of course! you’re _really_  important to us!” iroha gleamed, clasping her hands together. mikado took the piss out of her a lot (but really, who didn’t) but at the heart of it, there was no bad blood between them. the painter giggled upon seeing the magician’s initial shock at her words.

“thank you, _iroha chan._  that’s very sweet of you.” 

hajime nodded thoughtfully, “that’s a given though, ‘snt it? we picked leader with a hat and all, but i think we all agree - you’re best at it.” 

“we wouldn’t be here right now if you weren’t.” nikkei shrugged. emma offered a small nod at this, prompting the journalist to shuffle closer to her side; he patted her appreciatively on the arm. 

a faint smile graced mikado’s face, “i suppose i haven’t been the best leader these past few days though, have i? think of the piles of work i’ll have to catch up with…” there is was once again: mikado’s light-hearted humour. how long had it been without it? too long. the comment felt foreign in the situation they were in admittedly, but he didn’t want to dwell on it too much. in the end, it was just nice hearing the magician try to act as usual. mikado was in front of them, physically speaking to them. that’s nice.

he’s here.

that was enough.

he _wanted_  it to be enough.

“...now what?” the actress asked, biting absentmindedly at her thumb. her question brought the room to a standstill. 

what _were_  they going to do now? the group all looked between each other, sharing lost glances. it was clear that none of them knew what this whole revelation meant for the student body or their lives as a whole. the fact the magician had opened up to them and was currently safe was enough for them, but things were definitely set to change between them all. there was so much that they didn’t know about each other or what they were going through, and this had opened their eyes in the worst possible way.

this situation was bigger than them. they knew that.

letting out a small cough, all attention went to mikado, “i think....i would like to look at the plans for our stall. do you have pictures?”

“w-we do.” iroha scrambled to get her phone out of her bag, “we’ve done a lot!” 

“oh, did you now?” there was something bittersweet about mikado’s smile that couldn’t be missed. it was to be expected - they’d managed to plan so much in his absence that the magician was destined to be conflicted about it. for a split second, hajime considered telling iroha to put her phone away, and that this wouldn’t help anyone - but he stopped himself. despite mikado’s varying smile, the determination and sheer desire was evident in his eyes. he _really_  wanted to see what the group had done regardless of how he felt about it.

in an alternate universe, hajime could almost see this as a standard situation for the group. there was something innocent about mikado wanting to see what he’d missed thus far and the group’s insistence for him to catch up - to an outsider, there would’ve been nothing off about the situation at all. the fact there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary about it struck the boxer heavy as he realised just /why/ the magician was so determined to see the stall plan - right now, it was only bit of ordinary life he _still_  had. at a time where his parents had essentially thrown him out and a police investigation unavoidable...the student body was surely all he felt like he had left.

_sora was right about mikado needing normality right now more than anything, he thought._

together, the student body of class 79 gathered around the sofa, walking mikado through the various changes and additions they’d made to their class stall in the past weeks. the atmosphere was still melancholic and honestly speaking, more worrisome now than ever; nobody commented on it. despite everything...it was still better than nothing.

it was a start. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> summary ; hajime, iroha and emma go and visit mikado and nikkei at sora's house. mikado tells them about his abusive homelife and how he managed to escape the day he texted nikkei. he's safe now, but there is a general "where do we go from here" felt by everyone.  
> ;;
> 
> writing this chapter was really hard, truthfully. even now, i dont know if i put across all i wanted to here. mikado has gone through a lot but he is still trying to act 'strong', although there are moments where he briefly loses composure. that was what i wanted to convey 
> 
> i dont know what else to say here, so thank you for reading this far. november tests mean that updates will probably be slow


	16. part 15.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello :] 
> 
> tws apply for the majority of the chapter ;  
> \- discussions of child abuse  
> \- child neglect  
> \- emetophobia (very vague but still there)

class 79 gang™ [15] - 1:02pm.

**mikado** : hello everyone :)

**hibiki** : mi!! ♬ ♬

**shinji** : MIKADO BRO!  
 **shinji** : welcome back!!!

**yoruko** : mikado, hi!  
 **yoruko** : you don’t know how nice it is to see your name in the gc again

**yuki** : ^^^^^  
 **yuki** : seriously  
 **yuki** : you’re back  
 **yuki** : i dont know what to say

**hibiki** : im rlly gonna cryy again 

**kanade** : please don’t ♪

**mikado** : oh dear  
 **mikado** : i wasn’t sure what to text.   
 **mikado** : perhaps i went about this the wrong way

**kokoro** : Not at all.  
 **kokoro** : Everyone’s just happy to hear from you, albeit surprised.

**setsuka** : welcome back mi <3 x  
 **setsuka** : its so lovely you’re here :)

**iroha** : :D  
 **iroha** : we missed you!!

**nikkei** : oh, you’re doin it

**mikado** : i felt bad leaving everyone in silence @nikkei 

**setsuka** : nik! <3 x   
 **setsuka** : it’s lovely you’re here too :)

**nikkei** : ty

**emma** : hey

**kokoro** : Ah, Emma.

**emma** : i didn’t realise mikado was back on  
 **emma** : hey to you!

**mikado** : emma chan, hello  
 **mikado** : you’re in higher spirits today:)

**emma** : i guess your presence has worked its magic on me

**yoruko** : oh that’s cute

**sora** : it is.  
 **sora** : welcome back mikado

**yuri** : mikado  
 **yuri** : you are here!

**mikado** : i am

**yuri** : what a surprise  
 **yuri** : i believed your phone was broken

**yuki** : same here

**mikado** : my phone is alright

**kanade** : you _were_  practically dead to the world for days.  
 **kanade** : sora didn’t exactly ease our thoughts you know

**sora** : i’m sorry about that

**kanade** : no need   
 **kanade** : i appreciated your honesty ♪

**iroha** : it’s really nice you’re using your phone again(?) c: 

**mikado** : i suppose it is :)  
 **mikado** : honestly speaking  
 **mikado** : i just haven’t had the will to use it   
 **mikado** : it meant speaking to people

**sora** : you spoke to me.

**nikkei** : me too

**mikado** : and i enjoyed your presence nicely :)

**syobai** : you people really dont shut it do you

**setsuka** : syobai x :)

**sora** : oh, you’re here.

**mikado** : hello syobai chan :)  
 **mikado** : i suppose i’m the cause of all of this sudden messages  
 **mikado** : i apologise :)

**syobai** : s fine

**shinji** : DONT APOLOGISE!  
 **shinji** : youre HERE  
 **shinji** : thats great in itself bro 

**iroha** : yeah!  
 **iroha** : it’s been quiet without you c:

**mikado** : oh dear  
 **mikado** : i shall have to remedy that then :)

**sora** : you should. ^^

**hibiki** :  
 **hibiki** : youre  
 **hibiki** : youre safe now, right? @mikado

**mikado** : i’m safe  
 **mikado** : sora’s family have been extremely pleasant  
 **mikado** : nikkei can attest to that 

**nikkei** : im just here temporarily  
 **nikkei** : but yeah  
 **nikkei** : tsurugi san and kisaragi san are nice

**hajime** : They really are 

**yoruko** : i didn’t realse you’d met them before

**mikado** : oh,  
 **mikado** : i asked hajime chan over  
 **mikado** : with iroha and emma too   
 **mikado** : it’s only now that i feel ready to talk to everyone  
 **mikado** : i suppose that sounds rather lame hearing it now

**kokoro** : Not at all.

**setsuka** : thats perfectly understandable  
 **setsuka** : it must’ve been stressful these past few days mi  
 **setsuka** : it makes me happy to hear you’re okay nowadays  
 **setsuka** : big sis missed you a lot  x

**yuri** : i must admit that we all missed you

**mikado** : i didn’t expect that from you, yuri chan :)

**yuri** : perhaps you are a somewhat tolerable man  
 **yuri** : i _would_  hesitate before fighting you

**iroha** : i don’t get it   
 **iroha** : how is that any different ;;

**hajime** : Sure as hell wouldn’t hesitate with the rest of us…

**yuri** : именно так hajime 

**shinji** : SO mikado!  
 **shinji** : are you doin better bro?

**mikado** : much better than i was before  
 **mikado** : much. much better  
 **mikado** :   
 **mikado** : thank you :)

**yoruko** :   
 **yoruko** : can i ask what happened?  
 **yoruko** : you don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to

**mikado** : i feel like you all deserve you know what happened

**sora** : deserve probably isn’t the right word there  
 **sora** : it’s your choice to tell everyone

**setsuka** : rara is right mi x

**mikado** : then,  
 **mikado** : i would _like_  to tell you all  
 **mikado** : if that’s alright

**hajime** : Of course it is

**setsuka** : go ahead :) 

**yuki** : yeah  
 **yuki** : we’ll listen no matter what 

**nikkei** : ^^

**mikado** : ah

**kanade** : just tell us what you’re comfortable with  
 **kanade** : there’s no point in stressing yourself out about it

**syobai** : m

**mikado** : alright then  
 **mikado** : it’s  
 **mikado** : it’s heavy though.

**kokoro** : I think we expected that.

**hibiki** : its ok! ♬  
 **hibiki** : just start wherever mimi

**mikado** : well  
 **mikado** : i’ll be blunt with it  
 **mikado** : my parents have been abusing me for as long as i can remember

**yoruko** : oh

**shinji** : oh my god..

**mikado** : yes.  
 **mikado** : there isn’t any spectacular reason why that i know of  
 **mikado** : it’s always just been  
 **mikado** : abuse

**setsuka** : always… :/ 

**kanade** : how so?

**mikado** : shouting at me for not acting as they wish  
 **mikado** : getting physical when i wasn’t at home on time  
 **mikado** : starving me when i argued back

**yuri** : that is horrible  
 **yuri** : absolutely horrible 

**iroha** : i know this stuff already but i still feel like crying

**nikkei** : it still isnt your fault.

**mikado** : i know that  
 **mikado** : i never exactly got _used_  to it  
 **mikado** : you all know i’ll put up a fight for what i believe in, and that’s the same at home  
 **mikado** : granted, it got me  
 **mikado** : hurt alot  
 **mikado** : hm

**sora** : you alright?

**mikado** : i’m alright  
 **mikado** : i was just thinking   
 **mikado** : generally   
 **mikado** : i believe they wanted me to act in a certain way  
 **mikado** : like some sort of perfect child  
 **mikado** : i just wanted to be me. eccentric and free  
 **mikado** : they. did not like that at all  
 **mikado** : that’s the closest i can get to a reason, truthfully

**yuki** : there’s never any reason to hurt a child though  
 **yuki** : let alone your own

**hajime** : ^

**mikado** : i suppose so  
 **mikado** : i just  
 **mikado** : there had to be some reason why they’ve treated me like this  
 **mikado** : the fact i don’t _know_  distresses me 

**kanade** : it’s a power thing, isn’t it?  
 **kanade** : people abuse because of the control it gives them

**syobai** : theyre shitty people  
 **syobai** : ts all there is to it.

**setsuka** : whatever the reason, it’s sick mi   
 **setsuka** : that shouldn’t have been allowed to happen to you  
 **setsuka** : please know that x

**hajime** :  
 **hajime** : This has been happening for years then?

**mikado** : yes  
 **mikado** : it was always bad  
 **mikado** : but it got a lot worse  
 **mikado** : everything time they would hurt me, my mind would just flash  
 **mikado** : “the worst is yet to come”  
 **mikado** : things like that

**emma** : n this was the worst

**mikado** : everything leading up to now? i suppose so  
 **mikado** : i’ve never felt so powerless in my life  
 **mikado** : it’s not a feeling i want to experience again, really.

**hibiki** : is  
 **hibiki** : is this abt what happened before?  
 **hibiki** : when nikkei txted us?

**mikado** : yes :)  
 **mikado** : i should probably explain what happened there.

**setsuka** : in your own time mi x

**mikado** : as for why i disappeared  
 **mikado** : we had an argument about something. i still can’t recall what  
 **mikado** : tldr i suppose ; my parents locked me in my room as punishment  
 **mikado** : i wasn’t allowed to leave for any reason including school  
 **mikado** : i left my phone in my schoolbag too, so that’s why i was unable to read anyone’s messages

**yoruko** : thats sick  
 **yoruko** : thats _actually_  sick

**yuri** : Какого чёрта ;;

**mikado** : i got beaten up a lot  
 **mikado** : they didnt break anything   
 **mikado** : this time anyway  
 **mikado** : the bruises are not good at all though

**setsuka** : oh mi  
 **setsuka** : i’m sorry you had to go through that   
 **setsuka** : you deserved to be treated with respect and love  
 **setsuka** : none of what they did to you x

**mikado** : thank you

**yuki** : mikado  
 **yuki** : i dont even know what to say  
 **yuki** : i’m so sorry   
 **yuki** : you’re a child like the rest of us  
 **yuki** : you deserved so much better

**nikkei** : their own fucking child 

**yuki** : yeah  
 **yuki** : i feel genuinely sick againn   
 **yuki** : i relly sincerely hope that never happns again to you

**sora** : i’ve said my peace on this to you in person,  
 **sora** : but you’re brave  
 **sora** : you escaped and here you are, recounting it all over again  
 **sora** : i respect you a lot. 

**mikado** : no no  
 **mikado** : i wouldn’t say that

**shinji** : sora’s right!!!!  
 **shinji** : you ran w ALL those injuries  
 **shinji** : and now ur safe   
 **shinji** : im seein a whole brave bro here!! 

**hajime** : Like  
 **hajime** : I can’t imagine what it was like for you but escaping that situation can’t have been an easy thing   
 **hajime** : You got out though  
 **hajime** : You’re here and like Sora said, you’re talking to us   
 **hajime** : That’s really something Mikado 

**mikado** : ,,is it?

**kokoro** : You escaped and acknowledge you weren’t at fault for what happened.  
 **kokoro** : I think that’s a triumph…

**setsuka** : its definitely a triumph x :)  
 **setsuka** : even if you don’t recognise it like that now

**hibiki** : im glad youre okay   
 **hibiki** : really really happy

**yuri** : you have an aura that we have missed intensely  
 **yuri** : we now know you are alive and well too

**mikado** : i’ve missed everyone too  
 **mikado** : seriously  
 **mikado** : i 

**sora** : you alright? 

**mikado** : it seems i’ve started crying again :) dear

**setsuka** : oh mi :( 

**shinji** : ITLL BE ALRIGHT MIKADO!  
 **shinji** : youre not alone anymore!!

**syobai** : quit it.  
 **syobai** : it doesnt suit you

**mikado** : no, i suppose it doesn’t does it  
 **mikado** : for my next trick, i shall make them disappear   
 **mikado** : how long has it been since i’ve gotten to say something like that, i wonder…

**yuki** : too long

**nikkei** : far too long

**kanade** : what’s happening now?  
 **kanade** : you’re definitely not going home

**iroha** : you’re not going back at all?

**syobai** : not like we’d let him

**sora** : definitely not

**mikado** : i don’t know to be honest  
 **mikado** : sora’s family is nice enough to let me stay here for now  
 **mikado** : as for after this...i’m not sure  
 **mikado** : all my stuff is back at home   
 **mikado** : i don’t even know of the school arrangements either  
 **mikado** : oh god the school festival too

**shinji** : HEY dont worry about it for now

**iroha** : yeah  
 **iroha** : focus on healing ~! 

**setsuka** : with the project, we can manage mi  
 **setsuka** : none of us want you stressing yourself out 

**mikado** : my life has changed drastically  
 **mikado** : so not knowing what will happen next...

**sora** : we’ll see what happens when we get there  
 **sora** : for now, you’re safe here

**nikkei** : that and youre never going back to your shitty parents

**syobai** : absolutely not.

**mikado** : i suppose so  
 **mikado** : it’s a lot to think about, admittedly  
 **mikado** : thank you for being so understanding

**shinji** : of COURSE we understand!

**kanade** : that goes without saying, doesn’t it?  
 **kanade** : there’s no need to thank us for it ♪

**mikado** : i didn’t expect this level of support from all of you  
 **mikado** : i am. not very used to this sort of treatment, truthfully

**yoruko** : well  
 **yoruko** : you’re our friend mikado

**kokoro** : We all care about you, whether you like it or not.

**hibiki** : koko’s right! ♬  
 **hibiki** : this is a rlly tough situation for us all to hear aboutt  
 **hibiki** : even harder for you   
 **hibiki** : but you know well be here to help you every step of the way  
 **hibiki** : yknow?

**mikado** : yeah  
 **mikado** : just  
 **mikado** : yeah.

**yuri** : you do not sound the best about that

**mikado** : i am really thankful :)  
 **mikado** : i’m just not used to this, is all

**setsuka** : aw mi :/ x

**mikado** : oh, it would appear dinner is ready  
 **mikado** : i’ll have to go now

**shinji** : its been great to hear from you mikado bro!

**iroha** : ^^ :3

**hajime** : We all look forward to seeing you at school again 

**yoruko** : or seeing you in general really

**yuki** : you’ll take care of yourself, right?

**mikado** : i’ll try :)

**nikkei** : he will  
 **nikkei** : we’ll make sure of it

**sora** : ^^ 

**kokoro** : Please do.

**hibiki** : yeah  
 **hibiki** : text us whenever you want!! ♬

**kanade** : it’s been nice having you back.  
 **kanade** : it feels like some sort of order has been restored to the chat, somewhat. ♪

**emma** : :) ^

**mikado** : thank you  
 **mikado** : genuinely  
 **mikado** : i’m not sure what’s going to happen to me from here on out  
 **mikado** : for now though, thank you for being concerned about me. i appreciate it a lot  
 **mikado** : i’ll be taking my leave then  
 **mikado** : goodbye. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello once again. :]   
> the next two or so chapters will be a lot more on the serious side (lit. the policey work put into mikado's situaton) so the uploading may be slow again. 
> 
> i'd like to get this fic back into the sort of 'happier' tone before chapter 6 comes out. this does have a plan so we'll see
> 
> cya


	17. part 16.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a more serious chapter 1/2
> 
> tw ; vague discussions of abuse

it was around noon that day when tsurugi returned home without nikkei. he closed the door and was immediately greeted by kisaragi waiting for him inside.

“welcome back! did you get nikkei back alright?” 

“i did.” tsurugi took his coat off, letting out an exhausted sigh, “the yomiuris seemed relieved to see him. i _hope_  what you said got through to them.” 

kisaragi shot his husband a hopeful smile - he’d spoken in _length_ to nikkei’s parents over the phone about what their son was possibly going through...although he had to admit, he was still hesitant to say they’d made any progress. at least the journalist would always have their number on hand now, and a better idea of what was going on with himself. he liked to think _something_  came out of it, and he knew the policeman felt the same. wordlessly, he followed tsurugi into the living room.

nestled on the sofa, sora and mikado sat in comfortable silence. it wasn’t that cold, but that hadn’t stopped the ultimate potential from draping one of her blankets over the both of them. she rested her left cheek on her hand whilst mikado chose to prop a bunch of cushions behind himself instead. somehow, they’d managed to set up sora’s tablet between them both (read; sora had grabbed anything and everything off the table to prop the tablet up) and were pretty invested in whatever they were watching on the screen. despite the occasional gasps and reactions, the teenagers were calm.

it would’ve been nice for things to stay this calm and safe, but that realistically couldn’t be the case.

the married couple shared a knowing glance. looks like it was finally time.

“...mikado.” kisaragi started, offering the magician a sad smile. the pair stopped whatever they were watching, focusing on what the inventor had to say. 

mikado began fiddling with his cape again, “what’s the matter, kisaragi san?”

perhaps sensing the atmosphere, the ultimate potential moved the tablet aside, allowing mikado to sit up properly. the magician himself had been at the expense of many serious conversations with tsurugi these past few days so he seemed somewhat prepared for whatever kisaragi was going to hit him with. the inventor wasn’t as blunt as his husband, but he spoke with a degree of steadiness.

“we spoke to the police this morning. for now, they’re alright with us having custody of you.”

the news wasn’t bad by any means, although it only caused the magician to frown.

“...for how long?” 

tsurugi’s response was quick, sharp as always, “until the investigation is over.”

“a-and after? am i...going home?” 

“absolutely not. we wouldn’t let that happen.” sora intended to stay silent and simply listen in, but she couldn’t let mikado worry about that. the ultimate potential stared directly down at her fathers, spurring them on to talk.

“sora’s right. the likelihood of you going back to your parents is minimal.” 

truthfully, the chances of mikado even _seeing_ his parents again in the next few years was unlikely. tsurugi had pulled some strings here and there to get some information, and eventually he was told the news he’d justifiably hoped to hear: **mikado’s parents were currently in custody.** the blonde’s interview with the police had only been a few days ago, but in that time a number of neighbours had come forward with statements of their own. they’d witnessed and overheard...a lot. tsurugi couldn’t lie that it outraged him to know that mikado’s situation was just “a well known secret” in his neighbourhood, but he digressed. the main perpetrators at hand were the boy’s parents. they deserved to rot, really. tsurugi was prepared to do whatever he had to to make sure these people went down for a _long_  time.

for the sake of justice, he’d do anything. 

mikado’s frown remained, “...alright.” his response was disheartening, to say the least. they couldn’t fathom the blonde actually wanting to go back home, but there was something else weighing on his mind. 

“hey now.” kisaragi joined the kids on the sofa, placing a comforting hand onto mikado’s shoulder, “you can talk to us mikado. if there’s something bothering you, we’ll listen, hey?” it was shocking to think this man was once the ultimate inventor - he had the qualities of an ultimate therapist, in a way. kisaragi had proven over the years to be a natural calming presence in the worst of situations, and his compassion definitely did /something/ to mikado. even if it was minimal, the blonde relaxed slightly.

seconds passed. mikado remained silent, although seemingly deep in thought. he began to steel himself, sitting up properly now. the family presumed he was bracing himself to speak, confess even. he proved this assumption right moments later.

letting out a cough, mikado confessed, “i...i am _extremely_  grateful for how readily you accepted me into your home, and how caring you’ve been. it’s just...how do i word this i wonder?”

“take your time.” sora offered up a small smile, hand instinctively moving up to her chin.

_“i feel like a burden here.”_

mikado’s words brought the room to a standstill. tsurugi and kisaragi shared another look - it was clear they’d expected something to this effect. there was a mixture of surprise and curiosity on sora’s face, though it quickly morphed into one of understanding. 

“i see. is there anything you want us to do differently?” mikado shook his head sullenly. 

“you haven’t done anything to make me feel like an outsider, quite the opposite actually. even so, _i_  know i don’t belong here. despite how positively i attempt to look at my situation now, it doesn’t change the fact i’ve...come and interrupted your lives like this.”

lips curling downwards, sora shuffled closer to mikado, “you’re the only one seeing yourself like that here.”

“i understand that. the kindness you’ve shown me has been overwhelming and i really _do_ appreciate all you’ve done for me. y-you deserve my transparency though so i...i suppose i can’t help but just _know_  i don’t belong here. you’re a kind family and i’ve simply...come in and disturbed that stability. i don’t think it would be fair on me to overstay my welcome here.” 

looking around the room, it was undeniable they’d all felt the impact of mikado’s admission. the mood had definitely dropped.

kisaragi placed a hand on mikado’s back, smile not quite reaching the man’s eyes as he spoke, “we understand. this is beyond difficult for you mikado. i know we all love having you here, but this is a completely different environment for you. what you’re feeling? it’s completely understandable.”

“there’s no chance of you going back to your biological parents though.” though he’d originally stood nodding along to his husband’s words, tsurugi was now staring at mikado with strong conviction. the blonde shrunk down under the man’s gaze, still managing to return an appreciative smile.

“everyone just wants the best for you...or rather better off than you were before. you’re here because we want you to be safe, plus we like you. a lot.” sora paused momentarily, “i see how it’s suffocating though. you’re not really used to this sort of treatment, are you.”

the magician let out a humourless chuckle, “that’s an understatement.” mikado’s sarcasm was a shadow of what it usually was. over the past few days he’d desperately been trying to hold it together but of course, there were cracks. his responses on the group chat were almost ‘normal’ by his own standards, as if everything outside of his situation was fine. they weren’t. inevitably, sora’s family knew that already. 

“well while you’re here, you’ll always have our kindness.” kisaragi grinned, bringing it back somewhat as he continued, “we’ll have to wait and see what happens, sure, but right now, we all appreciate you being here _very_  much.”

the blonde nodded, appreciating kisaragi’s words.

“are you sure there isn’t anything we can do to help you feel different?” mikado shook his head, smiling appreciatively at tsurugi. 

“i don’t think so.” he paused, smile waning, “i’m grateful for everything you’ve already done for me so far but...i’m sorry about this.”

“you have nothing to apologise for, mikado.” kisaragi moved his hand from mikado’s back, clasping his own hands together, “everything’s changing, and nobody expects that to just be easy for you, hey? we’re just happy knowing from now onwards, you’re safe.”

with kisaragi’s last words, mikado froze. his expression switched from a wary smile to unreadable - they doubted the boy himself had any grasp on what he was feeling. mikado’s breath stilled for a moment as his gaze flickered between the family. 

**you’re safe.**

“thank you. i-” the magician’s gaze was downcast once again.

“are you alright?” 

mikado nodded shallowly, “yes, i suppose i just feel rather...stuffy at the moment.”

whilst he himself seemed unsure of how to phrase his feelings, mikado’s sentiment was understood. it’d almost been a week now since mikado was taken in and he hadn’t gone outside since; the blonde spent his time on the sofa, either reading or staring blankly into space. tsurugi and kisaragi advised that he stay off school until the investigation was completed so there wasn’t much preoccupying him. he had _tried_  to go outside alone but that went horribly wrong. a phone call later, kisaragi found him huddled on the side of the road frantically shaking - he wasn’t supposed to leave the house unsupervised anymore.

that being said, it was undeniable that he’d grown somewhat claustrophobic being stuck inside alone.

“well,” sora cleared her throat, “we could always go for a walk, if you’d like.” the ultimate potential wasn’t much of an ‘outside person’, though she seemed very willing to abandon her contempt of the world for mikado’s sake. for the second time that morning, tsurugi and kisaragi shared a look, though a much more happier one - they’d definitely held pride in how understanding they’d raised sora to be.

mikado agreed to going for a walk, acknowledging his need for fresh air. “maybe it’d make my mind less well, loud” he’d joked bitterly, following sora to the door. in a hushed tone, tsurugi made sure sora knew not to wander off too far in case anything happened (of course she knew that, but the policeman liked to be thorough). sora wrapped mikado up in one of kisaragi’s oversized coats before the teenagers shouted their farewells.

the front door closed shortly afterwards. 

the sullen atmosphere remained in the room, despite mikado and sora leaving. mikado’s confession hadn’t been lost on tsurugi or kisaragi, with the both of them clearly not at their happiest. a few beats of silence passed before either of the couple spoke up again.

kisaragi let out a sigh, patting the empty space next to him, “god...what are we gonna _do_  honey?” 

“it’s in the police’s hands now.” 

“and? how d’ya think that’s going to go? you know the law better than i do.” 

“...i’ll make sure justice is served. i promise you that.” 

kisaragi shot his husband a knowing look, “i wanna tell you not to do anything rash...just keep mikado’s best interests in mind, hey?” he was fully aware of tsurugi’s past and the issues it’d once brought up; whilst he didn’t want the policeman to _ever_  return to that sort of life, driven solely by justice...he couldn’t exactly condemn him here. this was too close to home.

tsurugi didn’t respond.  instead, he pulled kisaragi closer to him, allowing his husband to rest on his chest. the former inventor shot him back a grateful smile. even though he couldn’t be certain exactly _what_  tsurugi intended to do with the investigation, it was enough knowing that he’d taken his husband’s words on board somewhat.

“any ideas on what we’re gonna do after the investigation? y’know, with mikado’s living situation.” 

tsurugi ran his hand through kisaragi’s hair, “we looked into possible relatives...his parents cut everyone off. there _isn’t_  anybody else family-wise.” 

“and outside of that?” 

“well, i have no issue with him living here still.”

humming thoughtfully to himself, kisaragi smiled sadly, “i feel the same...but i don’t think that’s what _he_  completely wants. you heard him earlier. he feels like a burden here, and i’m not sure if we can do anything to change that.”

 _where do they go from here then?_  it went without saying that neither of them saw mikado as a burden or anything of the sort. that being said, they weren’t mikado. maybe they didn’t see him as a burden, but if that was the way he’d been treated his entire life, that feeling wasn’t just going to go away. nobody knew where he would be living after the investigation but it was clear: mikado needed serious help. if that’s how he saw himself then there wasn’t much they could do with the uncertainty of the situation. forcing him to stay here...it’d potentially make him even more miserable.

“it just angers me, all this. it’s brought back everything we went through with sora and now...i can’t stand the thought of them getting away with it, or mikado being left to...i don’t know, suffer alone. i just wish there was something we could do for him...find someone that we _know_  would treat him like a kid’s s’pposed to be treated.”

kisaragi frowned, pausing from his rant. he was supposed to be the “calm” and “sympathetic” dad but with only tsurugi here, he couldn’t contain his frustration. was he speaking out of turn? he didn’t think so. maybe it was all the memories this had sprung up with sora’s situation, or even mikako’s and kokoro’s situation before his father took them both in...no. he didn’t want to dwell on any of those times again. kisaragi averted his eyes back up to his husband, wary of how lost in his own thoughts he must’ve been. he half-expected tsurugi to be giving him the signature _”we both know you’re thinking too deeply about something”_  eyes but it was quite the opposite. he couldn’t see where tsurugi was looking at his current angle, but it definitely wasn’t at him.

“honey? you alright?” the hand running through his hair had stopped. tsurugi was no longer looking at him, gaze fixated elsewhere. he was definitely deep in his own thoughts. kisaragi lightly tapped his husband but to no avail - the policeman was unresponsive to any of his attempts at getting his attention. humming thoughtfully to himself, kisaragi chose to give up: tsurugi usually got like this when he was thinking about anything serious or complex. it was just one of his many quirks, and he liked that about him. 

seconds later, the policeman spoke again.

echoing his husband, tsurugi mumbled out a contemplative, “ _someone that we know..._ ”

“well, yeah? it’d be ideal for him to live with someone we trust, or someone trustworthy. we don’t have much of a say in that though...” 

all of a sudden, tsurugi got up from the sofa. the inventor let out a shocked groan at the loss of contact, though the surprise was quickly replaced with concern. he watched his husband’s expression and the knowing glint in his eyes - tsurugi seemed as if he’d just had the world’s biggest revelation. he’d seen this look before, sure, but had no clue what’d caused it this time.

“...honey? what-”

kisaragi watched as tsurugi pulled out his phone, gaze focused intensely. it was the same look he got with anything work related, although kisaragi had no clue what his husband was actually doing. he propped himself upright and moved to the edge of the sofa, leaning forward in curiosity. tsurugi didn’t pay him much mind, too busy tapping in what he could only presume was...a phone number? the phone started ringing. he was right. before he moved to leave the room, tsurugi finally turned to his husband. he spoke with steadfast determination as he left.

“trust me on this. i think i have a solution.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> notes ;  
> 1\. in canon, kisaragi's dad does adopt mikako and the same goes for this au too. he takes in mikako and kokoro so effectively, they both grow up as kisaragi's siblings.   
> 2\. tsurugi's a really interesting character to write, albeit one i feel like i can never do justice (no pun intended). he cares a lot about kisaragi and sora, but justice is still his key motivation the majority of the time. he's improved a lot since before though (think like, chapter 1 through 3 of dra)  
> 3\. it'll probably become more noticeable in the next chapter but the police system is rather confusing and intricate so details about that won't be very accurate. 
> 
> cya


	18. part 17.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one last chapter on the serious side before the group come back :)
> 
> tws for the chapter ;  
> mentions of child abuse in the first part

the investigation into mikado’s homelife and his parents continued. more witnesses came forward. new evidence came into light. 

everything that’d been brought into evidence seemed to corroborate mikado’s accounts, although horrifically so. the magician opened up to him and kisaragi immensely overtime but the situation appeared worse than what they’d been initially told. he’d been in this job for the vast majority of his life, true, but no amount of training could’ve prepared him for such a horrific case so close to home. tsurugi watched and got _personally_  involved with the cases regarding those he knew. it never got easier, even for him. this case was no different but still, he persisted. ultimately, justice was absolute. he needed to ensure everything was done correctly _himself._

tsurugi pulled some strings and managed to get on top of the investigation. he made it clear that he would _personally_  see to it that mikado’s parents would be punished accordingly for their crimes. 

the days went on. the list of evidence and allegations got longer. reports of neighbours hearing screams, endless arguments, broken furniture - some hadn’t even realised the magician was essentially being held captive, for it was typical for the teenager to disappear for days at a time. witnesses initially had reluctance to discuss anything they’d seen or heard (it was an _unspoken secret_ , as mikado had said) but tsurugi made them talk. he always did. in the end, the policeman and his team had enough to pursue a legal case into mikado’s parents. though, putting these witness statements together and serving justice...he couldn’t do it alone. 

**enter kakeru yamaguchi.**

kakeru yamaguchi, ultimate lawyer and former classmate of tsurugi, was appointed mikado’s lawyer. he was equally as angered by the situation but remained calm for the sake of his talent. tsurugi wanted the boy’s parents to go down for as long as possible. kakeru agreed, though had to be realistic. chances were that his parents wouldn’t admit to the abuse and the magician would have to testify in court - discussions and arguments over the legitimacy of a plea deal to stop this happening arose.

that didn’t happen though.

mikado’s parents both pled guilty.

 _10 years._  that was how long they’d both be locked up for, approximately. they were both ordered not to contact their son for the rest of his youth. tsurugi didn’t care to remember their reactions past the sentencing. justice had been served. that was all.

(kisaragi hadn’t thought 10 years long enough though and really, deep down tsurugi knew he agreed because no amount of years behind bars could undo a childhood worth of acts but who was he to argue against justice)

the news of the guilty plea and the sentencing took its toll on mikado - he had smiled initially but of course, the magician broke down that same night. it was to be expected, as his whole life had changed _completely_  in such a short amount of time. kisaragi and tsurugi stayed by mikado’s side that night but both knew that this wasn’t going to be enough. kakeru _did_  suggest some form of counselling (or rather, very kindly ordered it) but the magician was hesitant to open up to anyone else. 

it took a few days of chiding from sora and _others_ , but mikado agreed to therapy. he’d spoken in length about his concerns and insecurities regarding _everything_  and they listened, but ultimately made the magician realise that this was what he _needed._  he wanted to get his life back on track and this would be the start of it all.

mikado sannoji’s life had changed, that was undeniable, but maybe...maybe it was changing for the better.

 

→☆←

 

 

“ _wow._  i feel like i haven’t been here in _ages!_ ”

“we were here the other day.” a sigh, followed by a light-hearted chuckle, “the tone’s a lot more different now though.” the couple looked hesitantly to mikado, walking quietly beside them.

kisaragi gave the magician a light tap on the shoulder, “hey. you alright?”

“...i think so.” mikado paused, frowning slightly, “they _are_  fond of me, right?”

“definitely.” tsurugi didn’t skip a beat, “that guy hasn’t stopped calling me to see how you’ve been. ‘ts annoying but he, or i guess _they_  really like you.”

mikado went red at that, eyes widening in shock. of course, he knew deep down that tsurugi was right but the revelation still stunned him. mumbling a quiet “oh”, the magician slipped back into his own thoughts.

the inventor couldn’t help letting out a laugh, “seriously, calling him _that guy_  like ya don’t love the bones of both of ‘em.” kisaragi kept laughing as his husband insisted otherwise. the latter reached out to swat in kisaragi’s direction, much to mikado’s amusement.

they reached their destination moments later. the house itself resembled a cottage - it was relatively bigger than mikado remembered and lacked any neighbours directly beside it. they’d kept it well maintained regardless of necessity at least, with a few flowers planted outside the house. everything here was just _serene_ and soothing - mikado really needed that right now. he was still admittedly anxious over what was to come because _holy shit_ , what if they _didn’t_  like him anymore? kisaragi and sora spent the previous night listening to his worries and telling him otherwise, sure, but the doubt was still there. that being said, the magician was still excited - he’d lost sleep just thinking about this day.

*knock knock!*

as if on cue, the door swung open. 

“ _mikado_ , you’re here!” a dazzling smile, “we’re happy to see y’all!”

despite his earlier comments, tsurugi couldn’t suppress a grin, “the feeling’s mutual, teruya.”

said man was eager to let them all in, herding them into the warmth of the house. they watched him check over himself in the mirror (tying his hair back, who knew the green haired man had it in him?) before guiding them into the living room.

teruya otori, ultimate former merchant and one of the policeman’s closest friends, had been the first person to pop up in tsurugi’s mind when discussing custody of mikado. just as he’d claimed throughout their school years, the son of the infamous otori mart was now at the top of the company (second in command to his father, really, but _details_.) teruya was an accomplished man now in the prime of his career and ultimate talent, but tsurugi knew there was a lot more he wanted to do: one of those things just happened to be raising a child. he’d helped them out immensely babysitting sora in the earlier days when they found her, and helping integrate her back into school. teruya was a family-orientated man at heart and with _them_  not being able to have kids...he was perfect in tsurugi’s mind.

“come sit, come sit!” teruya gleamed, gesturing over to the couches, “were y’all alright gettin’ here? it is a _bit_  of a drive.”

“no. we got here without hassle.” the policeman said it so bluntly that teruya let out a loud laugh, definitely used to tsurugi’s personality by now.

kisaragi sighed, shaking his head, “you make it sound like we ran traffic lights getting here honey...it was fine gettin’ here though, ruya.” teruya accepted that with another laugh. 

the attention in the room honed in on mikado briefly, with the former ultimate merchant peppering him with questions: “were you alright gettin’ here?” and “d’ya like it here? ya said you did before but, y’know.” the magician, for the most part, spoke to teruya freely. they’d become a lot more relaxed with each other over the past month; tsurugi and kisaragi couldn’t have asked for more. it was a given they needed to get along this naturally from now on, especially because-

“oh, you’re all here. i didn’t hear you come in.” came the sudden voice from the kitchen.

she emerged with her usual aura of power, striding confidently into the living room. even in her more casual attire, she still managed to maintain that authority and security. mikado wasn’t phased in the slightest, perking up even more.

“rei-san, hello.” 

of course, teruya wasn’t alone - rei mekaru had been in a steady relationship with him for a few years now. the married couple still remembered the day teruya told their high school group about this new development and even now, it still stunned them. rei herself was the former ultimate professor, now choosing to work as a lecturer in a nearby university. whereas she once prided herself on her coldness and (honestly) rather condescending attitude, their friendship group broke her walls down a lot more than she’d ever admit. rei could still be blunt with her words (a lot more than tsurugi really) but it wasn’t out of spite - she’d made it clear that she cared about teruya intensely and with that...their future together. kisaragi was doubtful when his husband put forth teruya and rei that day because, he couldn’t lie, the professor didn’t seem _intensely_ fond of other people like her boyfriend. tsurugi knew her well enough to refute that and over the past few weeks, kisaragi proved himself wrong. she wasn’t too fond of others, that much was true, but something here was much _much_  different.

placing herself beside teruya, rei offered up a warm smile, “it’s nice to see you mikado. i’m sorry i couldn’t see you through the door.” she nodded in the direction of tsurugi and kisaragi, acknowledging their presence before turning back to the magician.

“oh no, it’s alright. i’m just grateful to be here like this.” 

“more like we’re stoked _ya_  here, right rei?” teruya threw his hands behind his head, smile ever present as always. rei agreed, eyes glistening with a genuine affection for the merchant.

a few more miscellaneous comments were passed around the room before they reached a standstill. they all knew what they were supposed to be doing today and the severity of this entire visit but it seemed nobody knew how to speak it into existence. they’d spoken in length about this day for weeks but now it was actually happening...it was a lot. the couples’ gaze flickered between each other and the teenager this situation was focused on; mikado himself went back to fiddling with his bag, not bothering to hide his anxiousness (it was to be expected regardless of how much they’d talked about _this_.) finally, teruya brought the room back to life and of course, the whole reason why they were there in the first place.

“so...y’all alright with _us_  gettin’ custody of mikado today?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! i'm once again sorry for the long upload break. 
> 
> 1) i've always planned to have mikado end up living with teruya and rei. kisaragi and tsurugi are lovely and of course care a lot about mikado, but it's gotta bring up bad memories living with these people who have seen him at his worst. it'd be harder for him to move forward in a place he feels vaguely pitied in so in come trusted parental characters: teruya and rei.  
> 2) teruya and rei are dating in this au. i'm not the biggest fan of their dynamic in dra but at the same time, there's definitely growth in sdra2 that i think works in favour of their relationship  
> 3) not too sure how the legal system works abroad but in the uk, 10 years is typically the most one gets w pleading guilty to child abuse. 
> 
> cya soon, i hope :)


	19. part 18.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year! ♥ no tw's for this chapter, i believe

kibōgamine student body (5) - 8:02am.

 **mikado** : hello friends :)

 **iroha** : hi! :3

 **hajime** : Good morning

 **nikkei** : its so _early_    
 **nikkei** : why are u functioning at this time @mikado

 **mikado** : ah  
 **mikado** : i’ll be coming into school today  
 **mikado** : well. kind of

 **hajime** : Kind of?

 **emma** : oh? :D

 **mikado** : for today, they want me to do admin  
 **mikado** : a nerf of my power, really

 **nikkei** : what power

 **mikado** : the sheer power my brain cell possesses  
 **mikado** : it is simply too great to be released back into class.

 **nikkei** : ,,,feel like we should be fact checking that one

 **emma** : no  
 **emma** : he’s valid

 **hajime** : So, you’re just coming in for admin stuff??

 **mikado** : i’m supposed to be  
 **mikado** : but if you’re all up for it,  
 **mikado** : maybe we could all catch up on the stall planning after school?

 **iroha** : yeah!!  
 **iroha** : you’ve missed _loads_  

 **hajime** : Iroha!

 **mikado** : no, the child is correct  
 **mikado** : you’ve sent me a lot of photos but it’s been a while since i’ve seen the stall in person  
 **mikado** : i’d like to start helping out again :)

 **emma** : of course  
 **emma** : you’re our leader, you know?  
 **emma** : we’ve missed your divine influence 

 **iroha** : you’re still a meanie   
 **iroha** : but yeah!! 

 **nikkei** : so  
 **nikkei** : group meeting after school?

 **hajime** : Group meeting after school 

 **mikado** : i look forward to it :)

→☆←

the bell signalling the end of the day rang. 

“hell-oh, we’re the first ones here!” emma grinned, placing herself upon a desk. 

“that’s got to be a first, huh.” entering alongside her was nikkei, “wonder where the others got to.” the actress motioned for the journalist to sit beside her and, to her enjoyment, he did without protest. they continued the rather upbeat conversation they’d been having on the way here: emma had recently been trying to figure out the internet and her computer once again (yuki’s attempts to help her use powerpoint were...with little avail), whilst nikkei tried to give her pointers. he’d spent his childhood having to learn how to use the internet alone in secret, but he supposed their situations weren’t the same - emma hadn’t even _realised_  there was such thing as the internet until she was a teenager. the duo bonded a lot nowadays regardless. there was definitely more of an attempt from everyone to try and understand each other just a little bit more.

a few moments later, iroha bounded into the room. 

“s-sorry i’m late!” it was almost comedic, seeing the painter’s obvious and unexplained exhaustion, “i ran here but... _agh!_ ” the brunette made her way to the others, practically melting into one of the chairs. 

holding back a chuckle, nikkei couldn’t help but ask, “you’re tired from running from our classroom to here? sounds like a scoop to me.” 

“i think everyone _knows_  i’m bad at sport, meanie. you don’t need to write about it!” the painter pouted, mock frustration all over her face, “anyway, i beat mikado and hajime here.” she crossed her arms smugly, resulting in laughter from emma’s end. 

as if on cue, hajime burst in. 

the boxer was greeted with calls of “hey” and “what time do you call this!” hajime joined them all, sitting beside iroha on another chair. 

“sorry ‘bout that, yuri wanted to talk to me.” the sentence sounded vaguely foreign in his mouth but he grinned nonetheless, “have you guys been here long?”

“not really.” the journalist shrugged, absentmindedly gazing at the clock. 

with a smug chuckle, iroha laughed, “we’ve been here longer than _you_  though. you’ve been beat!”

“i guess the time just didn’t... _hit_  you, hajime.” iroha’s pun may have been unintentional but emma’s sure as hell wasn’t. if anything could’ve broken the boxer’s happy aura in that moment, that would’ve been it. hajime buried his head in his hands, groaning loudly. he mumbled out an exhausted “ _i swear to god_ ” though it was muffled. emma bent down to high-five a confused iroha in response, whilst nikkei added yet another tally to the ‘emma ruins hajime’s life with puns’ chart (they’d started it a week ago and already, the number was _high_. he almost felt bad for the boxer, truthfully.)

the four of them had been continuing to meet up everyday in their planning of the stall. everything was going well so far, especially with mikado kept in the loop as much as he could be. there were a few disagreements here and there but that was anticipated. even with the plan practically finished, they disagreed in opinions _a lot_  and the rest of their class had to act as means of persuasion more often than they liked. the student body at the heart of it were still very different.

there was no denying though, the excitement in the room was inpalpable.

 **speak of the devil he will arrive**  - the door flung open in an almost theatrical way and with it, the ultimate magician made his appearance. an abundance of confetti gathered around him (how long had it been since they’d seen that trick?) before he made his way to the others.

“hello everyone. i hope you haven’t been waiting _too_  long for me.” mikado threw his schoolbag freely on the floor, sitting on the chairs alongside iroha and hajime. 

it was funny, in a way. they’d spoken to mikado over text most days and even seen him a few times when they’d first learnt about everything but _wow_ \- the magician definitely had a new air around him. the scruffy uniform they’d seen him weeks ago was replaced with a newer one that _actually_  fit him, with his usual cape patched up and tidied up. his entire demeanour was a stark contrast to the one they’d seen before too: the mikado they’d seen on sora’s couch that day was inwardly terrified, unconfident and exhausted whereas the mikado they were looking at now seemed awake, comfortable and like his once confident self...except this time around, none of it was an act. he was just...

 _genuinely happy with himself._  yeah. that was what they were all seeing right now.

“mikado” the actress clasped her hands together, smiling freely, “how _spellar_  of you to show up!” 

for the first time, not a groan or complaint was passed around the room at emma’s puns. the shift in mood contributed to that, surely: everyone was too busy trying to contain their happiness to moan at all.

“thank you, emma chan.” mikado sighed, gaze scanning around the classroom, “it feels good to be back...” he trailed off awkwardly. mikado stopped, staring at their once undisturbed classroom corkboard - it took the others a few seconds to catch onto his shock.

“oh. we made some changes to the room.” by changes, hajime was referring to the several mindmaps and drawings stuck to the room’s corkboard. the student body of class 79 were _very_ productive people...about 75% of the time. admittedly whenever they were unsure of what to add to the stall or ideas had run out, they’d wasted that time getting off track and arguing over other debatably more _important_ topics. the “best animes of 2019” mindmap had been centre stage of the corkboard for a few weeks, recently joined by a few shoddy drawings of the student body members done by well, each other (emma took it upon herself to draw mikado too along with her designated crayola art of iroha because hey, “no member left behind!”) thankfully, the classroom was still considered virtually abandoned so nobody had bothered to remove their _edits_  to the room.

letting out an exaggerated sigh, hajime couldn’t help but continue, “yeah. i-it’s been wild without you here bro. we got kinda...carried away, y’get me?”

“you’re just saying that ‘cause you hate that drawing of you hajime.” 

“that’s not it! nikkei did...a bangin’ good job!” he turned to the journalist, throwing up a hesitant grin in his direction, “i...i can tell ya really tried, y’know?” 

nikkei brought a hand to his chest, feigning injury, “damn, my dreams of being ultimate artist _dashed_  by hajime of all people. i never thought it’d come to this.” hajime immediately offered his apologies, trying to reassure him that he did genuinely like the drawing - the journalist simply clutched at his chest tighter, letting out a jokingly crestfallen “latest scoop? my feelings have been _hurt_.” 

what followed was hajime bringing attention the other drawings they’d all done of each other - emma’s drawing of mikado was cute enough but she’d really made it a point to show just how tiny iroha was in her other drawing. the actress defended herself readily (“i drew her as i see her, tiny! anyways, look how _tall_  i had to make mikado in comparison!”) despite iroha’s lackluster glares her way. they’d also moved in on hajime’s drawing of emma which the magician and painter both agreed looked weirdly anime-like...by hajime’s standards anyway. “you don’t really seem like an anime fan” they nodded earnestly, to which the boxer began arguing for his life as a self-proclaimed anime stan. 

mikado’s unrestrained laugh broke them all from their conversation, with the magician wiping a tear from his eye, “ah, you all never cease to amuse me. to think i missed all of this!” rather than an offhand comment, mikado spoke with nothing but joy in his voice. there was a hopeful gleam in his eyes as well that couldn’t go ignored.

“well! you won’t be missing it anymore, h-hopefully!” folding her arms in confidence, the painter beamed, “everything’s sorta different now, in a really good way!”

the five all shared similar looks of agreement. since they started the stall plan, everything had changed both for the worse _and_  the better. they were at a point where they could all say they were in a pretty good place and that everything was different, in the best kind of way.

finally, they were all reunited.

“so,” nikkei started, cheek resting on his hand, “how’s it feel to be back in this shithole?” what followed was an exaggerated sigh from the magician. 

mikado went on for a minute or so describing the whole admin-process as dramatically as he could. it was a boring few hours for him to say the least (he’d found himself honestly _wanting_  to come back to class, shockingly enough) and he hadn’t needed to do much there in the first place. 

“geez. that sounds _boring_  as hell!” pulling a face, iroha shook her head, “they didn’t let you bring a switch or something with you?”

“i’m afraid not, iroha chan. an injustice, really.” he shared her pout briefly, before a flash of acknowledgement graced his features, “i feel worse for teruya san...it must’ve been even more tiring for him, having to read through all of those forms…” mikado had said it as a throw-away comment, not thinking much of it, although the other student body members didn’t feel the same. the awkward silence that followed confirmed between them all that damn, the four of them were just as lost as each other. 

confused glances were shared. hajime was first to bite.

“...who’s teruya?” 

mikado looked up at the boxer in surprise before taking in everyone else’s equally lost looks. he stayed silent for a few moments, seemingly waiting for one of them to say sike or perhaps acknowledge what he assumed was their mistake. when none of this happened, mikado squinted his eyes at the rest of the group in similar uncertainty.

the magician spoke hesitantly, “did...did i not discuss my new living arrangements with you all?”

a chorus of “no’s” and head-shakes followed.

“right, hold the fuck up.” nikkei sighed, “you’re living somewhere else now?”

“yes? i’ve been living with these people for a while now. i suppose i forgot to inform everyone...hm.” 

in light of said revelation, the group couldn’t hide their shock. mikado had said it so casually that it was laughable. even now, the magician met their stunned expressions with curiosity and vague amusement. more confused glances were shared before snorts and eventual laughter ensued. how stupid this entire ordeal was.

“seriously bro…” hajime pushed a hand through his hair, chuckling to himself, “they’re good people, right? d’ya feel happy there?”

mikado nodded, genuine smile on his face as he reflected on his living situation, “they’re both _very_  lovely people. kisaragi san made sure i felt comfortable with them before moving in and they were...really patient with me. as it stands, i am very happy with teruya san and rei san.”

“we’re happy to hear that!” the sense of shared relief was clear, although this seemed strongest in emma, “it’s nice to have you back here, seriously.” the actress and magician shared a look (one of understanding, perhaps? hajime couldn’t quite pinpoint it) before she continued to speak, voice a lot more peppier this time around, “it’s been so _wild_  without our leader here, right guys?”

wild...was one way to put it. they’d kept mikado vaguely in the loop over the stall plans but they’d left out the details of how _exhausting_ a lot of it turned out to be. hajime purposely left out over text messages just how long it’d taken them to get syobai to contribute to the stall (no matter how many times nikkei pleaded “please just fucking tell us what a broker does”, syobai only gave them cryptic responses, or flat-out swore at them. it was funny watching the broker shoot down iroha, at least.) or how long it’d taken them to properly record the twins lines for the tannoy (they’d bargained with hibiki over how nice she had to be towards everyone in what she said but _god_  the vocalist was stubborn. kanade definitely knew this was going to happen but still, one would’ve assumed by her stifled laughter that she was enjoying this thoroughly.) in saying that though, there was definitely a strong desire from the whole class for the stall to be decent by their standards - they always had 14 people every time they hosted a class meeting (even syobai joined them. hajime felt proud of that, admittedly.)

“it’s been...an experience.” the boxer laughed shallowly, earning a curious gaze from mikado, “we’ve made big strides though. ‘think it’s all turnin’ out pretty great so far.”

“that’s good to hear. i suppose we don’t have too long left before the festival now, do we?” 

unfortunately, mikado was right - they had less than a month now until the school festival. their class had tried their hardest to ignore that looming fact but really, things were getting _real_ now. hajime knew class 79 wasn’t alone in their stress, for the majority of their fellow classes seemed to be feeling the pressure of the festival. most of the classes he’d seen and spoken with had a clear idea of what they were going to do, sure, but the pressure of _needing_  to perform well was still very much there. god knows class 79 were feeling that tenfold. 

a sigh from nikkei broke him (and by the looks of it, the rest of the group) out of their stressful thoughts, “our plan is practically complete. we just...need to put it all together. i’m sure we can do that as a class.”

a beat of silence before iroha whispered out, “oh my god, he _believes_  in us all.” the journalist hopped down from the desk temporarily to mess up the painter’s hair much to her protest, his complaint of “ _don’t change my words, idiot!_ ” drowned out by iroha’s shouting. regardless of his objections, nikkei’s grin didn’t falter; he seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself here, as he had been for a while now. hajime hadn’t told mikado that it was _nikkei_  who found a way to incorporate sora’s ultimate potential talent into the plan, or how he’d joined in with shinji and emma to convince the painter to work her talents throughout their stall.

he definitely did believe in them all whether he admitted it or not, but hajime decided to preserve nikkei’s dignity for a little longer and stay silent. moments later, the magician brought the fussing to a close, effectively saving iroha from nikkei.

“i see.” mikado hummed, bringing the palm of his hand to his chin, “to think, i placed all my _hope_  into you all...you’ve really outdone yourselves.” 

“i think we have you to thank for that bro.” 

clasping her hands together once again, emma garnered up everyone’s attention, “hey, you know...we should show mikado the finished plan, don’t you think?” everyone readily agreed with that, nodding at the actress. they’d kept mikado in the loop over how the stall was progressing (he was their leader, after all) but he’d insisted on not seeing the actual plan itself unless it was in person. finally, now was that time.

emma’s attention fell on iroha; said painter began fumbling around in her schoolbag, mumbling a stressed “i know it’s here somewhere…” to herself, before fishing out what they’d hyped up for so long: their stall plan. she placed it down confidently on the table in front of mikado, with the rest of the group moving to huddle around said table. 

“...wow.” the magician’s exclamation alone said it all. looking at it now together, the plan looked better than they could’ve imagined. their hard effort couldn’t be ignored.

“i wonder...how are we going to put this entire thing together?” 

nikkei let out a relieved sigh, “couple of shinji’s firefighter mates offered to help us build everything. they started making it yesterday, right?” emma gave him a thumbs up.  

as mikado continued to look over the plans, the others commented to no-one in particular.

“y’know,” hajime began, “i was kinda worried ‘bout how we’d pull all of this off. gotta say, ‘ts really cool, what we’ve done.” nikkei looked up at the boxer, nodding in agreement.

“the whole idea of separating the stall into rooms was a pretty useful idea.” 

the painter clapped in agreement, “mhm! we should be really proud of all of this, i think.” it went without saying that they were proud in what they’d done thus far. they’d come so far in having to agree on what “hope” actually entailed, putting it into an idea that incorporated everyone and translating that idea into an actual detailed plan - all the while, they’d gone through a _lot_  of issues outside of their control but in the end, come out of it a much closer and friendlier class 79.

a few more comments were thrown around before the group lapsed back into silence. still staring over the stall plan, everyone’s gaze went to mikado - he hadn’t given any indication of hearing anything they’d said and remained focus in looking over the plan. honestly, nobody could tell what he was thinking. what if...what if he _didn’t_  like the stall? none of them wanted to imagine that possibility.

“so, leader..” hajime broke the silence, smiling hesitantly, “what d’you think?” 

“...it’s _great_." 

there was a distinct twinkle in mikado’s eyes as he spoke - his thoughtful expression switched to one of complete awe. 

“i...i’m sorry i’m repeating myself here but the work you’ve all done with this,” he clasped his hands together, expression relaxing into a genuine smile, “it’s amazing, i must admit.” 

knowing mikado was truly happy with the stall plan and this _amazed_  by it was definitely an ego boost for the group. they’d stayed true to his speech months prior on _hope_  and their belief in one another as a class when designing everything - it was beyond satisfying seeing his reaction.

“thank _fuck_ you like it. everyone’s worked p hard on this, includin’ you.” nikkei’s gaze moved from the plan to mikado, sharing a knowing nod in his direction.

“‘ts weird, we all work so _well_  together.” hajime reflected, “the five of us ‘n the rest of the class, if you get what i mean. that’s what amazes me.” 

emma let out an exaggerated sigh, throwing her arms behind her head, “we can’t get too comfortable, since we’ve still got stuff to get ready...the rest of the class are _really_  eager to help though!” she finished with a smile, head bobbing from side to side. whilst the stall was in the process of being built, they definitely had a lot left to finalise and put together, that was true - the class 79 group chat was active most days discussing and brainstorming together. whilst the student body as a whole were in charge of implementing a lot of those ideas, the class’ input from day 1 had been a very important source for the stall and helping put idea to paper. 

really, their hope in one another had shone through with all of this.

“so, what are we all waiting for?!” the painter sat up, pointing at the plan, “we haven’t got long l-left!”

mikado let out a chuckle, “ _what are we waiting for_ indeed. let’s discuss how we’ll put this all together then.”

 

and with that, the five of them got back to work for the last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the notes for this chapter :)
> 
> 1) not exactly a note but chapter 6 is coming out on friday so,,,tons of fear there.  
> 2) there's 3 (or really 2 1/2) more chapters planned for this particular fic but due to the length planned for those chapters, it'll probably take a while to update.  
> 3) this fic takes place over the course of a school year and this chapter occurs near the end of that year, hence why class 79 have gotten a lot closer than they were in other chapters - this'll become clearer in the next chapter though
> 
> i'm not sure what else to put here other than thank you for sticking with this fic for so long. it's really nice to hear from other sdra2 fans :) cya


	20. part 19.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again :) 
> 
> chapter 19.5 should be uploaded today too as a short addition  
> sorry for the late uploads, as always.

“-and VOILA! it’s finished bro!” 

shinji moved to thank his firefighter friends, giving them all high-fives before waving them off. it’d been a gruelling few days but they’d managed to stick it out for so long - the redhead let out a thankful sigh. 

“guys! c’mon and look!” with shinji’s call, the class began to come over from their respective actions. letting out a proud laugh, he asked, “so, whaddaya all think? the boys worked _super_  hard on it!”

the 15 students of class 79 all gathered in front of their stall, the structure now complete. there was a moment of silence before-

“...woah.” 

iroha’s stunned whisper spoke for the whole group as they stood in awe, staring at the finished structure. after a week of working tirelessly, shinji’s friends had left them with a fully built structure, resembling a small but functional house.  there was nothing on it in terms of decoration but looking at it now, there was no doubt that this is what they’d been envisioning all along.

this was _their stall._

what followed was a series of overjoyed shouts and praise from the class, all pleasantly stunned at the stall’s turnout.

“we should look inside!” hibiki shouted, taking kanade’s hand in hers. the twins disappeared off inside the stall, with their other classmates soon following suit. hajime hesitated, taking some more time to marvel at their efforts, before allowing shinji and emma to pull him along.

the inside of the stall looked just as they’d envisioned it too. it may have been bare but the sense of pride was still there. they’d planned for it to play out like a walkthrough maze attraction and honestly, shinji’s friends hadn’t disappointed with the construction at all. just as they’d asked, their stall was comprised of six rooms, all fortunately decently sized. already, everyone was starting to discuss amongst themselves how cool this was, and their plans to decorate. 

the boxer walked back outside, shinji in tow. the redhead was as hyped up as ever, avidly telling him “i can’t _believe_  we’re really doin’ this bro!” and laughing loudly to himself. seeing his best friend’s shark-like smile saw hajime’s own joy skyrocketing, if that was even possible in such an already happy situation.

  
“this is seriously _amazin’!_ ” hajime wrapped an arm around shinji’s shoulder, grinning at his best friend, “although, i gotta wonder…” he turned around, gaze darting between the many other stalls scattered around the school’s field; they weren’t the only ones close to finishing, it seemed. hajime watched hoards of classes finishing up their stalls’ paintjobs, putting together the final touches to their visions and laughing together. initially, it would’ve shocked him to see so many students at their own stalls working so hard together (had anyone cared about the school festival at the start of the year? he doubted it) but now, surrounded by his own classmates, he understood. 

“everyone else’s working really hard, huh.” slipping beside him suddenly, nikkei’s voice brought hajime out of his thoughts, “wonder how our’s is gonna look in comparison...don’t you?”

tutting to herself, setsuka made her way to nikkei’s side, “we don’t need to compare ourselves to everyone else, do we? our stall’s gonna be great no matter what, nik.” the journalist seemed to mull over her words before chuckling to himself.

“yeah...i suppose you’ve got a point.” nikkei and setsuka shared a look, smiling wordlessly at each other before moving back to the stall. a part of hajime felt like he’d witnessed something he wasn’t supposed to see, but he digressed. 

looking at their stall now, the billiards player was definitely right - they’d worked so hard on their stall, their efforts _had_ to be for something. hajime had full faith in their stall, though at the end of the day, he supposed jin kirigiri’s opinion would mean the most. at the moment however, that didn’t matter - what mattered now was how _they_  all felt about it. 

they’d come so far since the start of the year, the boxer wanted to shed a manly tear. 

all of the work they’d been doing for the past months, all of those group meetings, all of the ideas they’d exchanged over text - it was all coming together, finally. hajime stood with his arms folded, letting out a sigh of content. the others were clearly equally as excited: nikkei and yuki were occupied with praising shinji (the redhead’s hardcore blushing was enough to make hajime chuckle), whilst yoruko, iroha and sora seemed to be discussing the painter’s work on the stall, and her refusal to bring an apron with her to paint. elsewhere, emma had an arm around kokoro, talking happily together.  setsuka and hibiki were mid-conversation (if you could even call it a conversation) with syobai - the vocalist was confronting him about his continued use of “littler shit” to describe her, whilst the billiards player tried to mediate the situation with poorly hidden amusement. kanade and yuri’s relationship was a weird one that even _he_  hadn’t tried to understand, but the duo seemed deeply immersed in the stall. the astronaut was happy to boast about space and the guitarist seemed somewhat interested...he thinks. as for the magicianm mikado was- walking towards him?

“is everything alright, hajime chan?” mikado slid beside him, looking quizzically between both the boxer and the stall.  

“what? oh, yeah. i’m doin’ pretty well. you doin’ alright?” the magician nodded at that, easing the boxer’s mood somewhat. mikado seemed a lot more brighter today. 

“i suppose we should all make a start on decorating, wouldn’t you say?” 

hajime took one final glance at the incomplete stall and all of class 79 beginning to gather outside it. with a shared look of approval from mikado, he shouted aloud.

“ _hey, guys!_ ” that got everyone’s attention quickly enough. immediately, hajime passed the attention over to their leader.

“shall we get to bringing our stall to life then?” mikado’s question was met with a chorus of agreement (“yeah!” “ _fuck_ yeah!” " _language, hibiki!_ ”) and cheers from their classmates. boxes of props and cans of paints awaited them beside the stall, with everyone seemingly ready to get immersed in using them. supplies in hand, the class gathered around in a circle; hajime couldn’t help but notice the lack of direction to do so, and mikado’s momentary stunned expression.

“let’s do this!” with that, class 79 got to work.

→☆←

let it be known class 79 worked, and they worked _fast._

there were six rooms altogether with varying amounts of decoration needed in them. the class split in half initially, with some focusing on painting the rooms whilst the other half gathered the decor together. neither were particularly difficult tasks and within the first hour, they finished this. now, they could focus on decorating their stall as planned.

it’d taken a bit of convincing but iroha was here now, letting her talent shine free in all of the rooms - as soon as the rest of the paint dried, the little brunette was off with her brushes, painting confidently and quickly. they’d all seen her get in the ‘mood’ when she was gaming or just doodling but this, this was different. the twinkle in her eyes and jitter in her step were admirable by anyone’s standards.

from within the stall, yuki and kokoro thankfully managed to get the big screen in third room (an odd pair but their combined knowledge of technology was unmatched in the class) and the video they’d made to accommodate it seemed to be working perfectly. as hajime and shinji both moved the punching bag into the room, the four of them all stopped to watch said video - the boxer’s acting skills were...regrettably amusing, to say the least. he went red remembering it all, but couldn’t help grinning - filming with emma and mikado was one of the funniest experiences he’d had this year. there was even a muffled chuckle from behind kokoro’s ipad, watching it.

decorating the fourth room together were syobai and mikado. the premise for this part of the stall was the most simplistic and needed little to no actual decor, but the magician wanted to make it look as nice as possible. they’d learnt quite a bit about the broker’s talent through the planning process and aimed to ultilise it in this room, even if it wasn’t much. with that in mind, the magician prodded the broker as they both painted, asking (read: begging) to know more about the latter’s ultimate talent. a few demands later, syobai began to talk about his talent, and some of the events that brought him to kibougamine high today (albeit, vaguely.) the two of them decorated the room in comfortable conversation, with an unspoken knowledge of their shared life experiences in tow. perhaps that’s why syobai was so willing to open up to the blonde, and why mikado marvelled in the broker’s confidence so much so.

elsewhere, the twins sat on the floor in one of the rooms, relistening to their recorded lines for the tannoy. their voices were to be played for the majority of the stall experience - hibiki’s energetic voice coupled with kanade’s impassive directions and occasional guitar playing worked well to showcase their talents. the recording turned out well and a lot more amusing than they intended, with hibiki’s chiding and kanade’s obvious sighs tactically kept in to make everything more ‘authentic.’ they both laughed listening to how silly they sounded, and later beckoned in kokoro from one of the other rooms to listen with them, for her voice was also to be played over the tannoy. what followed was the ultimate guitarist and psychologist indulging in the vocalist’s fussing over the recording, sharing a moment between the three of them to laugh over it all.

the second room was focused solely on setsuka’s talent and for that reason, the billiards player took it upon herself to lead her other students. playfully, she ordered hajime, yuki and hibiki to help her with moving the billiards table into the room (through sheer _luck_ , they’d managed to get it to fit through the doors) alongside the necessary equipment. it was a daunting task but good _grief_  were the four of them determined; after getting everything in the room alright, setsuka granted them a ‘break’ before actually having to sort through everything. as the four of them sat on the floor virtually exhausted, iroha let herself into the room, clearly in high spirits. sparing the group a loud “we’re here to paint!”, the brunette hoisted herself up onto a stepladder (watching her carry that around all this time was rather amusing. there wasn’t much height difference between the painter and the ladder on its own, truthfully) and began to paint freehand. kanade followed in behind iroha moments later, being dubbed as the painter’s personal assistant due to her almost inhumane precision. “i’m helping her draw _eight balls_  thanks to you, big sis” she glared, earning laughter from her twin and a cheery apology from setsuka.

the second to last room was dedicated to the ultimate astronaut’s talent - yuri’s knowledge of space was something he didn’t actually get to talk about in depth with others so as expected, he’d gone above and beyond with planning the decor with the class. yuri and iroha pre-painted a lot of the decorations with glow in the dark paint and now, the former was putting said decor in its place with help from mikado, syobai and shinji. in any other situation, he would’ve made it clear that he didn’t trust these men to understand him but seeing how genuinely interested in everything he’d already done, yuri couldn’t deny feeling rather appreciated. the decorating continued on and eventually, one of them plucked up the courage to turn the lights off in the room - what followed was the stunned acknowledgement over how _ethereal_  the glow in the dark decorations looked in this room, alongside an admiration for yuri’s talent. he _definitely_  didn’t try to hide his joy over that.

working in the final room together was nikkei and emma - the theme of this room focused on nikkei’s talent pretty heavily before turning to their class as a whole. the journalist was seated on the floor, sorting through tons of newspaper articles written about /them/ before passing them to emma, using the actress’ height to hang up these articles on the walls. it was funny, nikkei thought, to be using all of these articles he’d written or fawned over throughout his childhood to show people just how amazing their class was as individuals; the child who once wished to be an ultimate was now using all of that research to prove his _own_  ultimate talent, he’d said. the duo paused occasionally to look over some of these reports about them and their fellow classmates, reminiscing together. emma couldn’t believe just how much everyone had achieved with their talents, and how nikkei had spent years writing about it, also in disbelief and awe. the finale of their stall, they thought, truly expressed class 79’s efforts and achievements over the years. 

outside of the stall too, progress was moving quickly.

yoruko was given the role of leading people through their stall and, with a significant amount of help from the class, she’d decided on an outfit to wear. hand-sewn and made specifically for this event, her dress really screamed out _ultimate hostess._  with sora’s help, she practiced her lines out on the grass, making her voice as friendly and presentable as possible. yuri and emma were also subject to step in for yoruko when she wanted to take a break, with similar outfits and lines highlighting their ultimate talents. 

having been freed from setsuka’s commands, hajime took to painting the outside of their stall with yuki - sora joined them too, for the ultimate hostess felt confident enough to practice alone now. the three of them weren’t required to do anything particularly fancy paint-wise so they worked smoothly; they lapsed into casual conversation, commenting on how quickly the rest of the class were getting on with the interior of the stall. hajime couldn’t deny his pride in that fact - class 79 were working well as a group and getting along much better than any of them could’ve imagined (sora and yuki agreed, chuckling over just how much their class dynamic had changed since the start of the year.) their plan, their stall - this was _hope_ , just as class 79 envisioned it.

  
→☆←

“-and...that’s it!” accepting emma’s help, iroha stepped down from her stepladder, “the painting is all done!” the brunette turned to the rest of class 79, clapping brightly - she didn’t seem to care about the fact she was covered in various hues. 

the actress guided her back to where everyone had gathered, back in front of the stall again.

as the conversation came to an end, hajime tuned it out. he took a moment to look at his classmates in all of their exhausted glory, laughing amongst one another, before settling his gaze on their hard work. he’d felt a sense of pride before they had decorated - just knowing that their idea was more than _just_  an idea and a plan was enough to make his eyes water. what he was feeling now they were finished was a lot stronger than that. hajime was proud that they’d managed to pull of exactly what they had discussed for so long, of course, but his feelings of gratitude surpassed that. the sheer fact they were able to get the chance to work together like this and get closer as a class was something he’d mulled over all day, and he was grateful for it. it was tiring at times but he’d never have traded this moment or this feeling for the world.

hajime moved a hand behind his sunglasses, wiping away a fleeting tear as discreetly as possible.

with iroha finished with the painting...that meant they were done.

**their stall was finished.**

as the realisation slowly dawned, the class grew quiet. 

“...so, this is it, huh?” nikkei spoke out to no one in particular.

“s’ppose it is.”

more silence followed. call it awe, shock, or perhaps pure exhaustion, but no one seemed able to muster the right words in the moment.

“it looks really good, doesn’t it?” yuki broke the silence, “you know...i think-”

“oh _no_ , you are _not_  about to get all sappy with us yuyu!” hibiki shook her head playfully, resulting in a shocked “eh?” from the lucky student.

balling her hands into fists, hibiki spoke with strong conviction, “we don’t need some kinda shitty speech to know this is a happy moment! look at all the other classes - they sure aren’t getting sentimental about that and neither are _we_ , capisce?” she immediately turned to kanade, grinning when her twin gave her a nod of approval. 

the conversation derailed as shinji scolded the vocalist on her language, quickly growing red when hibiki dared to challenge him. setsuka attempted to defend the stuttering redhead but truly, to no avail. 

yoruko hummed in understanding, attention still on yuki “i hate to say it but she’s kind of right. everyone else’s finished their stalls from the looks of it...without any speech too.” 

the other stalls...ah. it was weird to think whilst they were working so hard on their own stall, their fellow classmates were doing the exact same. their opinions of what hope is differed immensely, simply by the looks of the stalls - most of them were extravagant (just as jin kirigiri expected, of course) and finished too. the schoolyard had definitely grown a lot less crowded since the start of the day, with the people still there presumably adding the finishing touches to their stalls.

“aw. i can’t wait to see what everyone’s done for their stalls.” emma sighed, “though i guess if we’re done...i don’t _think_  it’d be a bad idea to have a look.”

“w-well...we are kinda _done_ , right?” iroha looked up at the others hopefully.

“we haven’t done _just_  yet,” setsuka chuckled, referring to the festival itself “but we’re all kinda proud of what we’ve done already. oi, big sis is right, isn’t she?” nudging him in his side, setsuka aimed her question at syobai. he didn’t recoil immediately but when he did, setsuka hardly reacted.

syobai rolled his eyes at setsuka’s elbowing, but let out a grunt nonetheless, “don’t lump me in with you fuckers.” the billiards player laughed, responding with a bright, “never change, syo.”

“the big ledi makes an even bigger point.” yuri nodded, “if that is all for today…” he trailed off, voice consumed by the louder cheers from the class over being _free_  from kibougamine school labour until tomorrow, at least. per to emma’s longing to visit the other stalls, some of their other classmates expressed the same desire. hajime considered it, debating whether to ask shinji or yuki if they wanted to come along. upon closer inspection, the ultimate lucky student was still moping over hibiki’s chiding.

patting the ginger on the shoulder comfortingly, sora sighed, “it’s alright yuki. better luck next time.” 

“i doubt that…” something resembling a pout made itself present on yuki’s face for a moment before dissipating completely. sora must’ve invited him to look around the rest of the stalls together because moments later, he walked off in friendly conversation with the ultimate potential. 

“so, how about it kana?” hibiki pulled on her twin’s sleeve, practically buzzing with excitement, “let’s go look around!” 

kanade seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding apathetically, “okay then. i’d like to visit class 80, at least.” 

“..i’ll never understand your weirdo friendship with yodogawa, but fine.” the vocalist sighed, smile still present. the twins disappeared off after that, taking setsuka with them for good measure. hibiki was clearly leading whatever conversation they were having as they walked off but setsuka and kanade looked content enough just listening to the overexcited vocalist.

much to her surprise, yoruko approached kokoro.

“hey, kokoro! i was just wondering um...do you want to check out class 77’s stall together?” gaining a surprised look from kokoro, yoruko became flustered, “o-only if you want to, that is! i sorta noticed...you’re friends with that tactician girl, right?”

“...missy vesper?”

“her, y-yeah!” despite the hardcore blush she was sprouting, the hostess managed a smile, “me and the ultimate baker in that class are k-kinda close too so i thought that maybe you and i could…” she trailed off, groaning to herself. 

for a second, hajime could’ve sworn he saw kokoro crack a small smile at yoruko’s embarrassment. the psychologist decided to save the hostess from her internal distress moments after, responding with a simple, “sure. seeing missy would be nice.” a part of kokoro probably liked the idea of going with yoruko too, but that was just his speculation. the two of them walked off promptly, and whilst yoruko did appear to be leading the conversation, kokoro was trying to engage as best she could. it warmed his heart to watch, although moments later he’d realised that yuri, shinji and syobai had disappeared off elsewhere without him noticing. hopefully they’d had as much fun as the rest of them with the stall, he’d thought.

the rest of the class dispelled to either go home or visit their fellow students - only the student body remained.

“...so,” hajime began, “we actually did it.” 

“ _we did._ ” sharing a smile with the boxer, mikado looked wistfully at the stall. he continued to stare at the stall, “it’s admirable, don’t you all agree? i can’t deny my surprise we managed to get this done like we did.”

iroha nodded vigorously, “yeah! i-i mean, it’s not l-like i had no faith in us or anything...but this looks nicer than i thought it would!” she ended her sentence tugging at her hair, taking a moment to calm herself, “it’s _really_  nice.”

  
“it’s funny though,” nikkei spoke, “a few months ago, we didn’t know shit about each other. it’s funny we achieved this much.” 

“that’s the fun part though, don’t you think?” brushing a strand of hair away from her face, emma’s bright smile was impossible to miss, “we all did this, _together_. isn’t that amazing to think about? we’re _awesome_!” she ended her comment with a chuckle, extremely pleased with herself.

“awesome...” mikado mused to himself before letting a smile grace his features, “i think you’re quite right, emma chan. we are rather _awesome_ , aren’t we?” the pair shared a look of understanding, with the actress starting up, “we really are! we could be like...symbols of hope or something!”

the group took a moment to muse on just how ‘awesome’ they were, in emma’s words, hyping up all of the hard work they’d done with the decorating. hajime joined in, quickly growing sheepish when mikado brought up his _manly strength_  in carrying the billiards table. the conversation continued until the boxer let out a yawn. 

“s’ppose our work’s done ‘till tomorrow then.” hajime turned back to the others, smiling hesitantly, “maybe we could go get a coffee or somethin’ together?”

“now?” the painter clapped, “i’d love that! there’s this really nice cafe outside the station, me and emma went there before! they sell the best tea and coffee and _oh_ , the biscuits too-!” iroha’s rambling was stopped by mikado tapping her on the head, tutting playfully at her. what followed was the painter shouting at him for mocking her height yet again, with the magician feigning complete innocence.

oh, how hajime loved these guys. 

letting out a small chuckle, nikkei nodded, “i’d be down for a coffee right about now, sure.”

“somethin’ tells me i shouldn’t be fuelling your caffeine addiction, y’know.” hajime laughed, although his concern was genuine. how the journalist managed to be so careless about his health...he’d never understand. nikkei let out another laugh, much clearer this time. 

“oh shush.” with a spirited sigh, he shrugged, “every journalist has _some_ kinda black coffee fix they gotta fulfill.” nikkei moved over to iroha - the painter had recovered from her interaction with mikado, and was now worrying about the stares she was going to receive, for she was still covered in paint. nikkei stood nodding fervently to her anguish, beginning to jot down what he titled “iroha nijiue, painted in the colours of _despair_.” 

hajime turned his attention to mikado, “thoughts on coming with, bro?” mikado seemed to debate this for a moment, fingers clasping the fabric of his cape, before he dropped it.

“i suppose i could tag along. you won’t be getting rid of me _that_  easily, hajime chan.” the magician took out his phone, presumably texting teruya or rei about the change of plans. mikado was still the sort of person who tried to hide his emotions, but something about how chipperly he was typing expressed his excitement enough. 

lastly, he turned to emma. the actress hadn’t said anything much after his suggestion; her back turned to hajime, she seemed to be staring off into the distance.

“...emma?” she didn’t falter, concerning so, “you alright to come with us? they’ve probably got a _ton_  of tea and shit that you’ll like.”

a beat of silence.

“oh hajime.” emma piped up, voice uncharacteristically quiet, “i’d love that. with that suggestion, i think-”

she turned around, eyes gleaming.

“-you’re going to be my best- _tea!_ ”

hajime dropped to the floor, cradling his head in his hands. he’d been duped. whatever pride he had dwindled as he resisted the urge to scream.

“oh my. it seems he’s plummeted into despair.” a sigh from mikado’s end, “whoever will the group braincell go to now?”

nikkei and iroha were practically losing it, with the journalist bellowing, “oh my _god_ , his _face!_  i gotta say emma, i didn’t think you had it in ya.” 

“what can i say? i saw the chance, i took it!” she threw nikkei a peace sign, “how much does this make on the pun list now?”

“i think you filled the page, not gonna lie.” emma cheered, receiving applause from mikado and iroha. 

hajime reared his head, letting out an audible sigh upon seeing the grins of his fellow student body members. he still felt _very_  betrayed by emma’s sudden pun-attack but he relaxed.

“seriously...you’re gonna be the damn death of me.” he readjusted his sunglasses. 

emma let out another laugh, “sorry, i just couldn’t hold back!” she offered him an almost sympathetic smile in return, “i would very much like to go to the cafe though, i meant that.” 

recovered from the pun-related shock, hajime got up. with everyone’s go-ahead to go to the cafe, the student body headed out of school together. 

iroha continued to fuss over all of the paint over her uniform, moaning loudly over how _abundant_ it’d gotten (even her trademark beret had paint splotches here and there) - the painter was the same as ever, but her incessant talking and child-like humming had grown on them all, significantly so. still laughing along to the brunette’s complaints, nikkei joined in on the group banter - they’d all acknowledged by now that the journalist had his _off_ days, of course, but this was definitely one of his better days. nikkei easily slipped into conversation with much less venom than seen at the beginning of the year, and overtime, that charismatic journalist charm made itself known. mikado was also sharing in nikkei’s light-hearted mocking of iroha, feigning a carefree ignorance when the painter shouted at him - there was no denying that his smiles and laughter were mostly genuine now, and his cryptic nature definitely something they were able to appreciate now rather than be concerned. cracking another joke and adding onto the laughter, emma seemed much more unrestrained now too. the actress was typically upbeat and _very_ good at keeping the pretense up, but she’d also started allowing herself to be outwardly unhappy recently - it’d definitely brought the group closer, and the happiness she showed everyone seemed _real_.

as for himself...hajime felt more mature. he’d learnt a lot about himself in these months from both his own observations and his friends (he could call them that now, right?) the classmates he hadn’t paid much attention to past surface level, and the ones joining him in the student body...he’d seen a lot more sides of them all. the boxer couldn’t say he understood everyone or everything about them, but he’d come to appreciate the fact they’d gotten close enough for him to have seen those various sides in the first place. he felt more free too, in that regard.

they probably looked like a right state, the five of them, though hajime can’t say he cared too much. judging by how loud and nonchalant they were in this moment, he’d have said all of class 79’s student body felt the same. 

→☆←

and so, class 79 finished their stall.

months of sleepless nights brainstorming as a group, planning, putting their ideas to paper and into an actual stall - they’d done it.

a lot happened in those months - moments where nobody thought they’d even /have/ a stall popped up...or rather, a stall they _all_  worked on. it was a rollercoaster-like experience but they’d worked through it. 

their class dynamic had changed too, hadn’t it? at the start of the year, they all had their own established groups and unspoken relationships in the class - there was no need to make an intense amount of effort talking to anyone outside of those relationships; hell, the class 79 group chat was only used as an afterthought in the beginning. planning the stall as a class had definitely forced them to interact with one another and, although uncomfortable at first, time worked wonders on the way they all saw each other. barriers within the class were broken down gradually so, until whatever ‘groups’ they’d been in the beginning 

friends. that was what they all were now.

their first year was at kibougamine high was coming to an end and, perhaps, this was the perfect way to finish it all off.

tomorrow was the day of the festival and finally, the day class 79’s story would be known to all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so,,,sdra2 chapter 6, huh? ouch.
> 
> i'm not sure of how far this is in terms of spoilers but i would like to point out that there won't be much change to this au after the reveals of chapter 6. the sdra2 kids (save from teruya ofc) are all still teenagers here whilst the dra cast are all adults. yuki and sora are their own characters whilst their dra counterparts are different characters...if that makes any sense.
> 
> the other notes for this chapter ;  
> 1) ultimate tactician and ultimate baker are both from danganronpa lapse :) haven't seen the fangame yet but the artstyle looks super good  
> 2) syobai is still. very hard to write. he's still an asshole dgmw but like, not to the point he'd hurt others like he does in the game and all. he's is a teenager in this au ;;


	21. part 19.5.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! this is the second chapter being uploaded today, so please read chapter 19 before this lol

class 79 gang™ (15) - 10:02am.

 **emma** : hey  
 **emma** : today’s the day!!!! :)

 **yuki** : i’m so nervous ;

 **hibiki** : im not  
 **hibiki** : its just like goin on stage for a performance!  
 **hibiki** : don’t you think? @kanade 

 **kanade** : oh, sure  
 **kanade** : we like our stall  
 **kanade** : that’s good enough for me.

 **nikkei** : ok but if jin kirigiri doesn’t like it,,,

 **yoruko** : oh shit

 **yuri** : our lives will not continue for much longer, yes?

 **nikkei** : exactly

 **emma** : i think he’ll like it  
 **emma** : we worked really hard on it, after all

 **iroha** : oh i hope jin kirigiri likes it  
 **iroha** : and all the other students too :(((

 **sora** : what we’ve made is unique  
 **sora** : we put our hearts and ideas into it  
 **sora** : if they don’t like it then hey, that’s not our problem.

 **kanade** : if anyone badmouths our idea @ our stall?  
 **kanade** : yoruko can deal with them. :)

 **yoruko** : hey!   
 **yoruko** : i’m not gonna fight people at our stall!!

 **syobai** : aint you sposed to be a team player?

 **yoruko** : i’m a hostess not a fighter 

 **nikkei** : weak OP

 **hibiki** : yeah  
 **hibiki** : cmon ruko!!! 

 **kokoro** : You’re doing it for us. 

 **emma** : lol

 **sora** : oi  
 **sora** : leave her alone

 **yoruko** : sora <3 

 **syobai** : gross

 **nikkei** : theyre being r*mantic on main again

 **kanade** : yak.

 **yuri** : i personally think it is beautiful  
 **yuri** : the love that they share is   
 **yuri** : how do i say it  
 **yuri** : BEAUTIFUL

 **emma** : oh???

 **yuki** : yuri  
 **yuki** : i feel like that’s a little...

 **sora** : no, let him speak  
 **sora** : _this once._

 **yuri** : thank you dearly ms sora

 **iroha** : sora has picked the mercy route

 **shinji** : how kind of u sora!!

 **setsuka** : sorry to interrupt guys :)  
 **setsuka** : are any of your family or friends coming to the festival today? @everyone x

 **kanade** : our parents insisted on coming.

 **hibiki** : yeah!  
 **hibiki** : we dont see them loads because of concerts and their job :(  
 **hibiki** : they made sure they wouldn’t miss today though!

 **hajime** : They’re bringing your dog with them right  
 **hajime** : Please tell me they’re bringing your dog @hibiki @kanade

 **kanade** : shiro?

 **hibiki** : they are!!  
 **hibiki** : shiro gets all cranky when we leave her alone  
 **hibiki** : she loves attention though so youre def welcome to pet her to ur hearts content! <3

 **hajime** : i  
 **hajime** : Im in a state of Brokedown (Bro Breakdown)

 **yuki** : you’ve just made his day lol

 **nikkei** : his life, more like

 **shinji** : my firefighter friends are comin bck along

 **emma** : ooh  
 **emma** : the ones that helped w the stall??

 **shinji** : YEAH  
 **shinji** : theyre rlly supportive bros n all  
 **shinji** : i dont work w em as much as i used to but even so  
shinji: theyve always been there for me :))  
shinji: evn w the injury theyve never given up on me

 **yoruko** : that’s so sweet omg

 **hibiki** : omg (´；ω；`)

 **yuri** : guess who is about to cry over a man for the first time  
 **yuri** : thank you shinji

 **shinji** : WAIT NO yuri dude!  
 **shinji** : dont cry!

 **sora** : ha  
 **sora** : oh, wait  
 **sora** : kisaragi may be coming along today too.

 **nikkei** : only kisaragi san?

 **sora** : allegedly  
 **sora** : i don’t think tsurugi’s ever come into kibogamine with me

 **yuki** : kisaragi san hype in the chat 

 **mikado** : kisaragi san :)

 **kokoro** : Does he know Mikako is going to be there too?

 **sora** : he does now  
 **sora** : aaand now he’s overexcited

 **iroha** : pfft

 **setsuka** : its sweet they’re coming :) x  
 **setsuka** : big sis is loving this energy

 **emma** : i didn’t think your sister liked going out too much? @kokoro

 **kokoro** : It’s definitely not like her...  
 **kokoro** : Older sister duties today, I guess.

 **iroha** : awww   
 **iroha** : i’m jealous! aha

 **yoruko** : aren’t you bringing anyone?

 **iroha** : nah  
 **iroha** : my siblings are all off @ art schools or in god knows what country  
 **iroha** : my mother and father are too busy to care about anything soo :3

 **mikado** : oh :(

 **yoruko** : i’m sorry iroha 

 **nikkei** : mood though

 **sora** : kisaragi says he’s adopting you on sight   
 **sora** : you too @nikkei

 **nikkei** : im not sayin yes...but im not saying no either

 **emma** : pfft

 **hajime** : Wild to think the people we love are gonna see all of our effort today

 **yuki** : i know right? ;;  
 **yuki** : aaaaaaghh

 **iroha** : aaaaagh says it all, friends! 

 **shinji** : dont say that yuki bro!  
 **shinji** : cmon!

 **hibiki** : im just hecka excited for today   
 **hibiki** : our stall is so cool n now we get to show it off!

 **nikkei** : considerin our entire theme to go off of was “hope” ?  
 **nikkei** : i think we’ve done p well 

 **sora** : ^^

 **kanade** : if we fuck it up then we fuck it up.

 **hibiki** : we’ll fuck it up TOGETHER 

 **shinji** : WELL  
 **shinji** : that is,

 **syobai** : is the littler shit wrong though

 **hibiki** : its been a few months PLEASE call me my name!!!

 **sora** : even if anything does go wrong,  
 **sora** : we had fun making the stall  
 **sora** : we can’t forget that

 **emma** : yeah  
 **emma** : we’re gonna be alright everyone

 **hajime** : Just a few more hours, huh...

 **sora** : damn, you’re right.  
 **sora** : what time is everyone getting in for?

 **nikkei** : the festival starts @ 1

 **yoruko** : i’m coming in now ;;

 **setsuka** : dw ruko   
 **setsuka** : big sis is here too :) 

 **mikado** : oh, already?

 **setsuka** : i was asked to help out a bit more  
 **setsuka** : and i’m never one to deny help x  
 **setsuka** : theres a lot of other students here already with their stalls

 **hajime** : ...We’re being shown up.

 **yuri** : unacceptable  
 **yuri** : i am getting on a train there right now

 **iroha** : the energy that message radiates pff

 **hajime** : You’re coming in too, Iroha

 **iroha** : ,,,but i wanted to nap

 **shinji** : a NAP wont energize you iroha  
 **shinji** : well come n pick you up   
 **shinji** : we can _run_  to school n wake you up!

 **iroha** : uweh?!?!

 **hibiki** : “we’ll come” ??  
 **hibiki** : who

 **yuki** : hello  
 **yuki** : bro and i are otw 

 **shinji** : we are EN ROUTE IROHA

 **iroha** : fear.jpeg  
 **iroha** : i’ll start getting dressed then,,,

 **sora** : are we starting to all file in then?

 **kokoro** : It seems like it.

 **emma** : @kokoro @kokoro wanna meet at the bus stop and go together??

 **kokoro** : Alright.

 **emma** : yess! bring your tablet too  
 **emma** : _hopefully_  we’ll be there soon! :)

 **hibiki** : aAA i’m so!!! excited  
 **hibiki** : today’s gonna be great!

 **sora** : let’s do our best guys  
 **sora** : setsuka says please get in before 12:30 

 **nikkei** : got it

 **yuri** : anything for the big ledi

 **syobai** : big ledi

 **sora** : fuck it, big ledi time.

 **emma** : just watched kokoro laugh at “the big ledi”  
 **emma** : maybe angels do exist

 **kokoro** : I couldn’t hold back, sorry.

 **emma** : lol  
 **emma** : we’re on our way  
 **emma** : i can’t help but feel a lil anxious about today  
 **emma** : i hate to be a negative nancy about it

 **hajime** : No, that’s fair  
 **hajime** : We put a lot of thought into our stall though  
 **hajime** : I’d like to think we’ll be alright

 **mikado** : i believe we’ll do very well today :)

 **yoruko** : i’ll try not to mess up my lines 

 **yuki** : you’ll be okay @yoruko

 **sora** : you’ve practiced loads  
 **sora** : don’t stress yourself out too much, please

 **yuki** : ^^  
 **yuki** : plus it’s just like the twins said  
 **yuki** : nobody will hold it against you if anything goes wrong

 **yoruko** : true :>  
 **yoruko** : tho jin kirigiri might

 **nikkei** : fuck jin kirigiri lives 

 **emma** : he’s a boomer what does he know

 **sora** : who taught you that word,,,

 **yuki** : teaching her about the internet means teaching her internet language  
 **yuki** : i’m helping!

 **emma** : exactly!   
 **emma** : i’m a lil less scared now lol  
 **emma** : thanks guys :)

 **yoruko** : same 

 **hajime** : That’s great 

 **yuki** : yay ^^  
 **yuki** : see you guys later! 

→☆←

 **setsuka** : i hoped everyone would be here by 12:30   
 **setsuka** : you all continue to surprise big sis x 

 **sora** : everyone’s really passionate about today  
 **sora** : even _he’s_  here early

 **iroha** : yeah  
 **iroha** : why _did_  you get here so quickly? @syobai

 **syobai** : pay me 1b won  
 **syobai** : maybe then ill tell you bobblehead

 **nikkei** : bobblehead i-

 **iroha** : i am a littel creacher,,,no monie to my name

 **yuki** : we have a lot of time to kill before they open the gates  
 **yuki** : idk if anyone else wants to do a last check of the stall but

 **hibiki** : we should  
 **hibiki** : me and kana will be there in a mo 

 **emma** : so last minute run through of the stall?

 **hajime** : Our leader should issue the call, shouldn’t he?

 **yoruko** : ofc   
 **yoruko** : it’s his decision after all

 **yuki** : @mikado ? 

 **setsuka** : what do you say mi? x

 **mikado** : ah  
 **mikado** : what i suppose we should do

 **emma** : ooh?

 **mikado** : shall we go through our stall one last time, friends? :)

 **iroha** : yeah! :D

 **shinji** : DEFINITELY bro!

 **hajime** : Yeah, let’s 

→☆←

Teruya, please close the fridge door (3) - 11:53am.

 **mikado** : hello legal guardians :)

 **teruya** : heya mikado!!!1  
 **teruya** : whaddaya need?

 **rei** : Are you alright?  
 **rei** : Do you need us to pick you up at all?

 **mikado** : no no, everything is fine   
 **mikado** : thank you for worrying though

 **teruya** : ofc we would!

 **rei** : As Teruya asked, is there anything you need?

 **mikado** : ah, yes  
 **mikado** : are both of you busy today?

 **rei** : Today?

 **teruya** : its the school festival today right?  
 **teruya** : kisaragis been hypin it up for AGESS

 **mikado** : yes  
 **mikado** : if you two are able  
 **mikado** : our class has been working really hard on our stall for a few months  
 **mikado** : would you be able to come?

 **rei** : If it’s for you,  
 **rei** : I’ll happily free up some time.  
 **rei** : Teruya?

 **teruya** : ya ill definitely b there!  
 **teruya** : whaddid yall work on?

 **mikado** : it’s a surprise :)  
 **mikado** : i can tell you it’s a very /different/ idea  
 **mikado** : and one we’re rather proud of  
 **mikado** : it tells a lot about us as a class  
 **mikado** : and i think i’d like you both to know about them.   
 **mikado** : the people i also care about very dearly

 **rei** : Mikado. :)  
 **rei** : We’ll be there - that’s a promise.

 **teruya** : ya!!  
 **teruya** : u kids are more creative than we were bck at kibougamine   
 **teruya** : rmmber our bumper car stall? @rei those were the dayss

 **rei** : Indeed. :)  
 **rei** : I’m looking forward to what you’ve all put together.

 **mikado** : i await your arrival rei san, teruya san :)

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not exactly sure where this is going yet but i've thought a lot about this AU so right now? we pumpin' ideas out boys


End file.
